CHICAGO — Explicit photos generated by artificial intelligence passed around a suburban Illinois high school have prompted a police investigation.
Stevie Hyder, a sophomore at Richmond-Burton High School, found out Tuesday that there were disturbing photos of her circulating.
“He just took random photos from my daughter’s from prom and turned them into nude images and started distributing them among student body,” Hyder’s mother Stephanie Essex said.
The picture now has a fellow student being accused of altering by using AI technology.
“I know there are at least 22,” Hyder said. “They said I was the 22nd person whose mom they called, but we think there’s around 30 girls that are surfaced now”
In the world of AI, there are video and photo swapping apps that have come under fire where a user can crop someone’s face into an adult video, creating pornographic images of people without their consent.
“These technologies allow for bad actors to try to use them in ways that create misinformation, deep fakes,” DePaul professor computer science Bamshad Mobasher said. “In this context there is definitely a need for quick action. The potential for harm is great.”
At the federal level, Congress is currently considering legislation called the “defiance act,” that would better regulate the AI world and deep fakes.
“Obviously we know it’s fake, but a lot of people from towns over they won’t know it’s fake.” Hyder said. “We know he was sending them around we don’t know who all has it.”
It can take a psychological toll on victims.
Since the technology is so new, the law isn’t clear cut, if a fake body attached to minor’s photo is considered illegal.
“I don’t know where it falls in the law. In my discussion with Richmond police last night they were still working with the McHenry County State’s Attorneys Office to figure out exactly how to lay out the charges for this,” Essex said. “In my opinion I think this is basically should be considered child pornography it’s unacceptable.”
NewsNation affiliate WGN-TV reached out to Richmond-Burton High School, but the principal said they cannot comment due to the ongoing investigation.
CASA of McHenry County has been providing counseling resources to the girls involved.