The age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) reared the uglier side of its head recently in a situation that involved popular singer Taylor Swift.
According to a Reuters report, several sexually explicit, AI-generated images of the pop star spread across social media earlier this week, causing outrage among her fans and even the White House.
The outlet noted:
Fake sexually explicit images of Swift proliferated across social media this week, including one image shared on X, formerly Twitter, that the New York Times said was viewed 47 million times before the account was suspended.
The White House responded to the inappropriate incident, using the moment to lecture social media companies into setting up the proper protocols to prevent such images from being uploaded, or at least taking action before they're viewed tens of millions of times.
White House Responds to Explicit AI Generated Images of Taylor Swift pic.twitter.com/M3lIMdmwtQ
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) January 27, 2024
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called for Congress to take legislative actions to prevent such incidents during a recent press briefing.
"This is very alarming. And so, we're going to do what we can to deal with this issue," KJP said.
She added, "So while social media companies make their own independent decisions about content management, we believe they have an important role to play in enforcing, enforcing their own rules to prevent the spread of misinformation, and non consensual, intimate imagery of real people."
The Telegraph noted:
The rise of sophisticated AI image-generation tools, which can depict realistic photos of celebrities and landscapes, has raised concerns that they will be used for non-consensual pornography. Sharing deepfake images is illegal in the UK under the newly introduced Online Safety Bill.
According to ABC News, the White House has taken some action on similar situations, noting that it has created "a task force to address online harassment and abuse and the Department of Justice launching the first national 24/7 helpline for survivors of image-based sexual abuse."
Some lawmakers, including Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), have introduced legislation to combat such occurrences.
"We're certainly hopeful the Taylor Swift news will help spark momentum and grow support for our bill, which as you know, would address her exact situation with both criminal and civil penalties," Morelle told ABC News.
X, formerly known as Twitter, released a statement in the wake of the images going viral.
"We're closely monitoring the situation to ensure that any further violations are immediately addressed, and the content is removed. We're committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all users," the company wrote.
