OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is pushing to launch an “adult version” of ChatGPT, whereas Elon Musk has advocated permitting Grok to generate R-rated content material. If you happen to’re not already involved that allowing AI to create adult content is a bad idea, maybe this new survey will change your thoughts.

Greater than half of American youngsters have used AI instruments to generate nude pictures of themselves or others, in response to a new study published within the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Chad Metal of George Mason College.

The survey collected responses from 557 English-speaking US residents between the ages of 13 and 17. The survey was nameless and carried out with parental consent.

What did the research discover?

The outcomes are arduous to take a seat with. 55.3% of teenagers surveyed reported utilizing nudification instruments to create a minimum of one picture of themselves or others. 54.4% stated that they had acquired AI-generated nude pictures. 

Much more regarding, 36.3% reported {that a} sexualized AI picture of themselves had been created by another person with out their consent, and 33.2% stated these pictures had been shared with out their permission.

The outcomes had been largely constant throughout completely different demographics. Nonetheless, male contributors reported greater charges of making and distributing these pictures, each consensually and non-consensually.

Why is that this an enormous concern?

Folks have been sending nudes to one another for the reason that daybreak of smartphones. Nonetheless, doing that requires a keen participant. AI nudification instruments don’t. Anybody with a photograph of you and entry to considered one of these apps can create a pretend nude picture with out your information or consent.

Victims of this sort of abuse expertise penalties just like these of different types of youngster sexual exploitation materials, together with a way of dehumanization and lasting disruption to their lives.

Metal sums it up effectively: “Teenagers are not simply digital natives however AI-natives. ‘Nudification’ and GenAI apps are their new ‘sexting,’ solely with tougher points surrounding consent.”

The hope is that findings like these will immediate lawmakers and educators to behave earlier than the issue turns into much more troublesome to deal with.