AI-generated pornographic photos spread through X… 72 million views in 19 hours due to delayed response
There is no regulation on AI deepfakes in U.S. federal law.
MS CEO: “The IT industry must take action”… The White House also said, “Congress and other related legislation”
“Artificial intelligence (AI) has made even Taylor Swift a victim of deepfake.” (New York Times, NYT)
An obscene image containing a photo of the face of American pop star Taylor Swift has been distributed on social media and is shaking up American society. The image in question was a deepfake photo created with generative artificial intelligence (AI), and although it quickly spread on major social media such as X (formerly Twitter), the company was unable to filter it out for 17 hours. The US White House and others also warned about the dangers of social media, which is becoming a ‘distribution network’ for false information abusing AI technology.
It is estimated that the photo in question was uploaded to X on approximately the 24th (local time). According to the information technology (IT) media ‘The Verge’, a photo combining Swift’s face with an obscene photo was viewed more than 45 million times in about 17 hours after it was posted on an X account. The same photo posted on another account also received about 27 million views in 19 hours.
X has now suspended the account in question and deleted the photo. Additionally, searches for Swift’s name and related keywords were temporarily blocked. On the 26th, without directly mentioning Swift, .
It is not yet clear who created the photo. However, after analyzing the photo, Reality Defender, an AI specialist company, determined that “there is a more than 90% chance that it was created with generative AI.” As AI technology becomes more common and easy for anyone to use, the side effect is that the damage caused by deepfake-based pornography, which combines a specific person’s face with an existing photo or video, is increasing.
NBC News reported last year, “You can easily find deepfake pornographic videos on All of the TikTok stars in question are women in their 20s. Sochi Gomez (18), who appeared in a Marvel movie, also recently revealed that she had suffered damage due to a deepfake pornographic video being distributed on social media.
The social media company’s delayed response also played a role in causing public outrage over the problematic image. Fans criticized, saying, “The damage was limited to this level because we started a ‘reporting campaign’ from the beginning,” and “X side did not respond quickly at all.” They took collective action by adding the hashtag ‘Protect Taylor Swift’ to each post. Nevertheless, as the spread did not stop, X took action to block searches using Swift as a keyword.
The White House also expressed concern. Spokesperson Currin Janpier said in a briefing on the 27th, “We are currently leaving it up to social media companies to self-regulate, but women and minors are mainly suffering due to lax regulations.” He added, “The White House, the Department of Justice, and Congress are all working on related legislation to prevent this situation.” “We have to step forward,” he said.
Related industries also expressed self-reflection. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft (MS), said in an interview with NBC, “It’s terrible. “It will be an opportunity for the IT industry to take action more quickly,” he said. “We must also actively participate in preparing guardrail (safety measure) laws.” The reason CEO Nadella took action so quickly was because claims were raised that this Swift deepfake image was created with Microsoft’s generative AI tool ‘Designer’. MS immediately launched an investigation.
Currently, there are no provisions in U.S. federal law regulating the creation and distribution of deepfakes. In response, the American Actors and Broadcasters Union (SAG-AFTRA) issued a statement on the 26th, saying, “Unauthorized production and distribution of manipulated photos should be made illegal,” and urged, “We must act before it is too late.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.