By The Diary
30 Sep 2024, 02:51 AM EDT
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a proposal aimed at protecting minors from the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) tools that are used to generate harmful sexual images of children.
This proposal is part of California’s concerted efforts to tighten regulations around this industry that increasingly affects the daily lives of Americans. California is widely seen as a potential leader in regulating the artificial intelligence industry in the US.
Child pornography is illegal even if it is with AI
The new laws, which received overwhelming bipartisan support, close a loophole around AI-generated child sexual abuse images and make clear that child pornography is illegal, even if it is AI-generated, The Associated Press reported.
Current law does not allow district attorneys to pursue people who possess or distribute artificial intelligence-generated child sexual abuse images if they cannot prove the materials depict a real person, supporters said.
Although now, according to the new laws, making images of children being sexually abused or pornographic through AI, this crime would be considered serious.
AI images are created from real children
“The creation, possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material should be illegal in California, whether the images are generated by AI or of real children,” Democratic Assemblyman Marc Berman, author of one of the projects, said in a statement. of law.
“The AI used to create these horrific images is trained on thousands of images of real children being abused, re-victimizing those children,” he added.
The AP recalled that earlier this month, Newsom also signed two other bills to strengthen revenge porn laws with the goal of protecting more women, teenagers and others from the sexual exploitation and harassment enabled by the tools of artificial intelligence.
It will now be illegal for an adult to create or share sexually explicit deepfakes generated by someone’s artificial intelligence without their consent, according to state law. Social media platforms should also allow users to report such materials for removal.
Create adult nude images with AI
The laws come after San Francisco filed a lawsuit against more than a dozen websites that use artificial intelligence tools with the promise to “undress any photo” uploaded to the website in a matter of seconds.
The problem of deepfakes is not new, but experts say it is getting worse as the technology to produce them becomes more accessible and easier to use.
Governor Newsom has touted California as an early adopter and regulator of AI technology.
With information from AP
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