A child safety watchdog has welcomed a new UK law that will let them test if AI models can create child porn.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), an organization aiming to stop the proliferation of child sexual abuse material online, has published new data saying that AI-generated CSAM had almost doubled over the past year.
While the IWF creates tech tools that help wipe out child pornography from the web, there are some legal limitations when it comes to testing AI models.
The current legal rules in the UK “make it difficult to test AI products” to see if criminals can create child pornography.
Under UK law, if anyone is found to make child pornography for whatever reason, then they would face legal repercussions, until now.
The UK government has announced a new legal defence, which would allow child protective organizations like IWF to test AI models to see if they can generate child porn.
AI developers would also be able to test their own models to see if they would freely generate this kind of material, to put guardrails in place so that their models wouldn’t create child porn.
These organizations will be “empowered to scrutinize AI models robustly” to ensure that they are unable to create nude or sexually explicit images of children, the IWF said.
Not only has the creation of child pornography doubled over the past year, but the content has also become more extreme.
The IWF found that category A content, which depicts sexual acts including penetration and extreme sexual acts with animals, has risen from 2,600 to almost 3,100.
“Category A content now accounts for 56% of all illegal AI material, compared with 41% last year, suggesting criminals are using the technology to make the most extreme and serious imagery.”
The UK government has stated that this new legal defense, which is due to be tabled, is a major step in safeguarding children online.
The proliferation of child pornography and even child-like sex dolls has become a huge issue online.
Not only are people using AI to create child porn, but people are even buying child-like sex dolls over the internet.
Meta’s Facebook was under fire for selling child-like sex dolls on its website, and similarly, a French consumer watchdog reported Shein for selling sex dolls that resemble children.
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