AI-Generated Nude Photos Of Middle Schoolers Found In Beverly Hills

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The discovery of artificial intelligence-generated nude photos of middle schoolers in Beverly Hills has prompted school officials to warn that anyone caught making such images could be expelled.

Beverly Vista Middle School administrators became aware of the images on Wednesday, when students began reporting their existence. School officials say that students were creating and disseminating images of AI-generated nude bodies with other students' faces superimposed onto them. "As the investigation is progressing today, more victims are being identified," Beverly Hills Unified School District leaders said in a statement Monday.

AI image generators such as OpenAI's DALL-E use machine learning to generate brand-new images from a users' text prompt. For example, a user can ask the software for a picture of a sunset; the software knows how to make such an image because it has been "trained" using scores of sunset images that already exist on the web.

These tools can create "deepfakes," where a real-life person's likeness is used to create a kind of digital puppet, allowing them to be depicted doing or saying something they did not do or say in real life. The problem was highlighted recently when fake pornographic images of Taylor Swift went viral on social media.

AI, used in combination with other software, allows for a broad range of sophistication when it comes to the creation of deepfakes — from crude-cut-and paste jobs to eerily convincing simulacra.

"This emerging technology is becoming more and more accessible to individuals of all ages. We are appalled by any misuse of AI and must protect the most vulnerable members of society, our children," BHUSD officials said in a statement. "While the law is still catching up with the rapid advancement of technology and such acts may not yet be classified as a crime, we are working closely with the Beverly Hills Police Department throughout this investigation.

"We assure you that if any criminal offenses are discovered, they will be addressed to the fullest extent possible."

School officials said any student found to be "creating, disseminating, or in possession of AI-generated images of this nature" will face disciplinary actions including a recommendation for exclusion.

School officials are asking anyone with information that could assist in the investigation into the images to come forward.

They also provided a link with resources about how parents can talk to their children about AI-generated deepfakes.