Cops aren’t sure how to protect kids from an ever-escalating rise in fake child sex abuse imagery fueled by advances in generative AI.
Last year, child safety experts warned of thousands of “AI-generated child sex images” rapidly spreading on the dark web around the same time the FBI issued a warning that “benign photos” of children posted online could be easily manipulated to exploit and harm kids.
So far, US prosecutors have only brought two criminal cases in 2024 attempting to use existing child pornography and obscenity laws to combat the threat, Reuters reported on Thursday. Meanwhile, as young girls are increasingly targeted by classmates in middle and high schools, at least one teen has called for a targeted federal law designed to end the AI abuse.
