AI-Generated Deepfake Videos of Child Porn Send Shockwaves! Creating Country's First Ever AI Child Porn Lands Quebec Man in Jail
As AI takes over the world, its repercussions have already begun to come to light. In creating at least seven child pornographic AI-generated deepfake movies, where the face of one person is superimposed on the body of another, Steven Larouche, 61 has pled guilty.
(WARNING: This article contains details of abuse. Child sexual abuse imagery is illegal. If you see sexually explicit images or videos of minors on the web, please report it)
As AI takes over the world, its repercussions have already begun to come to light. In creating at least seven child pornographic AI-generated deepfake movies, where the face of one person is superimposed on the body of another, Steven Larouche, 61 has pled guilty. Larouche, who is from Sherbrooke, Quebec, also admitted to having thousands of computer files containing child pornography; for this offence, he received an additional four and a half years in prison. Any visual depiction of a person under the age of 18 engaging in explicit sexual conduct is prohibited by Canadian law. Deepfake Porn Could Be a Growing Problem Amid AI Race.
According to The Canadian Press, provincial court judge Benoit Gagnon stated in his decision that he thought this case was the first of its sort in Canada. Gagnon expressed his worry that future offenders will use the same AI technology to overlay recordings of other children being sexually assaulted with the faces of youngsters whose photographs they locate on social media. Although Larouche's attorneys argued that a lighter sentence was appropriate because no children were harmed in the production of the videos, the judge ruled that the children whose bodies were used in the videos had once again had their sexual integrity violated.
“The use of deepfake technology in criminal hands is chilling. The type of software allows crimes to be committed that could involve virtually every child in our communities,” Gagnon writes in his ruling that took place on April 14. “A simple video excerpt of a child available on social media, or a video of children taken in a public place, could turn them into potential victims of child pornography,” her further said.
According to the judge's order, many photographs used in child pornography have a digital fingerprint that enables law enforcement to recognise them. Larouche made it more difficult for law enforcement to halt the dissemination of illegal material by producing the phoney photographs.
There is presently no federal law in the United States that prevents the use of people's photographs in deepfake porn or any related technology without their permission. According to the judge, many photos of child sexual exploitation have a digital fingerprint that enables investigators to recognise them. Larouche made it more challenging for law enforcement to halt the dissemination of the illegal material by producing the synthetic photographs.
Larouche also acknowledged having more than 545,000 computer files, some of which he shared with others, that contained pictures or films of child sex assault.
These pictures included a series of one girl being mistreated between the ages of seven and fourteen over the course of seven years. Police also discovered images of the youngster from her social media accounts as well as personal data about her, including her real name, the location of her home, and the name of her school.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 04, 2023 11:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).