New report reveals one in 15 adults have suffered forms of AI-generated image abuse

A new report has revealed the shocking rates of Aussies experiencing abuse from sexually explicit AI-generated images, as the federal government pushes ahead with landmark online safety legislation.

The RMIT University study found around one in 15 adults, or seven per cent, had experienced at least one form of AI-generated image-based abuse since turning 18, with the figure in Australia slightly higher at 7.7 per cent.

Such abuse includes creating and sharing an intimate image generated by AI – including sexually explicit ‘deepfake’ images – without the consent of the person depicted, as well as threatening to do so.

Nearly 87 per cent of victim-survivors reported at least one impact on their daily lives, including in their health and wellbeing, work, relationships or finances.

Higher rates of abuse were reported in those aged under 35, as well as in marginalised racial and ethnic groups and people with disabilities.

Lead author Nicola Henry from RMIT University said while the results were hardly a surprise, no one is immune from such abuse, and the extent to which it is occurring is still not fully known.

“This finding is not surprising to us given what we know about the increasing availability of AI tools that people can use,” she said.

“The true scale may be even greater because some people may never know that AI-generated images of them have been created or shared.”

Men were also targeted at more than twice the rate of women, with 10.2 per cent of men experiencing abuse compared with 3.8 per cent of women, but women reported more negative impacts, including fear for their safety and adverse physical and psychological health.

Researchers surveyed more than 7200 adults in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The report comes as the federal government and Communications Minister Anika Wells introduced major internet safety laws that would target social media companies and provide a digital duty of care.

The legislation, introduced into parliament last month, will require online services to proactively prevent the AI generation of intimate material created without consent, with tech companies facing penalties of up to $109.2 million for noncompliance.

It will go to a Senate inquiry after passing through the Lower House last week.

Professor Henry said a “multi-pronged, whole-of-community approach” to tackling AI-based abuse was needed and urged governments to consider introducing additional measures beyond the digital duty of care.

“Australia’s proposed digital duty of care is an opportunity to shift the focus from responding to abuse after it happens to requiring online services to prevent foreseeable harm,” she said.

“But it can’t just be the law, taking down content, and the technology companies coming up with better ways to prevent it. We need more resources into education to change some of the social norms, really focusing on respectful relationships education and making digital literacy an essential component of that.”

Domestic violence helplines

A spokesperson for Ms Wells said in a statement the digital duty of care will capture AI deepfake nudity tools and put them in the spotlight.

“Nudify apps and websites have no place in society and access to these awful tools will be restricted by our digital duty of care,” she said.

“eSafety will also be provided with new powers to issue notices to remove nudify apps and websites.”

The digital duty of care laws also aim to give users more control over the algorithms, which are the systems that shape what people see online.