AI deepfakes spark ‘new wave of violence’ against women worldwide

AI deepfakes are generating a “new wave of violence” against women all over the world in a disturbing trend of digital abuse that is becoming more difficult to discern from real life.

Victims of AI-generated deepfakes depicting them in compromising, often graphically sexual positions and situations have spoken out about the immense psychological trauma they have endured.

Author, influencer and former partner of Elon Musk, Ashley St Clair, told 60 Minutes that she had seen “hyper-realistic” images of herself generated by Grok, the AI platform built in to Mr Musk’s social media platform X.

“I think when people use the term ‘deepfake’, it really takes away from how realistic these images are because not only did it look like I was actually undressed and in this graphic position … they had told Grok to turn me around and bend me over,” St Clair said.

“There was only what looked like a piece of dental floss covering me. It just became an avalanche of more images that got more and more graphic, more and more explicit, and the age I was in the photos was getting younger and younger.”

St Clair, who is suing Mr Musk’s billion-dollar company xAI, said she believed perpetrators should hold “criminal liability” but companies like X were “selling the perpetrators the weapons”.

“These individuals didn’t make (deepfakes) on Photoshop, they didn’t draw them. They were only able to do it because Grok produced it and distributed it for them,” she said.

Australian actor Kate Bell, best known for her roles in Home and Away and Blue Water High, said she felt “incredibly self-conscious” when she first realised deepfakes of her had been proliferating online.

“(There was) really aggressive pornography. Images where I had been superimposed to be completely nude … there was a penis in my face … my arms were being puled,” she said.

“They aren’t images I would ever want anyone to see. I feel very violated.”

Former police officer and cyber security expert Leah Pinto said AI technology could be “incredibly dangerous” in the wrong hands.

“We are seeing cybercriminals and offenders perpetrating this often, and it’s getting more and more difficult to be able to tell what is real and what’s not with this technology,” Ms Pinto said.

“It’s really important that the big tech companies have a seat at the table in addressing the problem. We need to work with them.

“Private industry, law enforcement and government really need to work together to address this problem, and they need to be taking the right steps in their policies, in their technology, in their sharing of information to mitigate this risk and try to stop it.”