New AI software creates bare images of clothed women

More than 100,000 women are facing bare images abuse by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and shared online.

According to a new report, faked bare images of more than 100,000 women have been digitally created by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and spread on the messaging app Telegram.

Telegram took down the groups, which had over 80,000 members, citing abuse of its terms of use. Among the images created were undressed photos of minors.

Some of those targeted “appeared to be underage”, the report said. However, those running the service said it was simply “entertainment”.

The report claims that the technology used is a “deepfake bot”.

The AI bot discussed makes use of some aspects of this technology. It works fully automatically, is free and requires no technical knowledge.

Deepfakes are computer-generated, often realistic images and video, based on a real template. One of its uses has been to create faked pornographic video clips of celebrities.

“Having a social media account with public photos is enough for anyone to become a target,” a report said.

According to research in recent years, over 95 percent of “synthetic media” online today is pornography.

Deepfake nudes do not fall in specific legal definitions in most countries, making it uncharted territory for law enforcement.

Experts said it is closest to crimes known as revenge pornography and non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

According to a 2018 analysis, In India, such crimes are usually tried under Section 499 (criminal defamation) and Section 354C of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 66E (depicting private parts of a person) and Section 67A (section against sexually explicit materials) of the Information Technology Act.