--- title: "Predators Are AI-Generating “Really Evil” Child Sex Abuse Images, Experts Warn" description: "AI image generators are being used to create and share at-scale child sexual abuse material, ultimately making the issue harder to counter." date: "2023-06-21" modified: "2023-06-21" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-generating-child-sex-abuse-images" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "cybercrime" - "image generator" - "the digest" --- # Predators Are AI-Generating “Really Evil” Child Sex Abuse Images, Experts Warn ![AI image generators are being used to create and share at-scale child sexual abuse material, ultimately making the issue harder to counter.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Virtual CSAM The reality of an AI-driven internet continues to get clearer. And that reality, in some cases, is both disturbing and destructive. According to a [report from *The Washington Post*](), experts are finding that AI image generators are being used to create and share troves of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Worse yet, the spread of this material may ultimately make it harder for law enforcement to help victims. "Children's images, including the content of known victims, are being repurposed for this really evil output," Rebecca Portnoff, the director of data science at the nonprofit child-safety group Thorn, told the *WaPo*, adding that the group has seen a month-over-month growth in AI-generated CSAM since last fall. "Victim identification is already a needle in a haystack problem, where law enforcement is trying to find a child in harm's way," Portnoff continued. "The ease of using these tools is a significant shift, as well as the realism. It just makes everything more of a challenge." ## Needle in a Haystack According to the report, most predators appear to be using open-source image generators such as Stability AI's Stable Diffusion model to create the disturbing imagery. While Stable Diffusion does have a few built-in safety precautions, including a CSAM filter, with the right know-how and a few lines of code, those filters can handily be dismantled, according to the report. Identifying these images could prove difficult. Existing systems to stop CSAM were built to detect the proliferation of known images, not newly generated ones. ## Layers of Hell The news is alarming on several levels. It's troubling to see society's worst actors, who have reportedly been sharing tips on how to create this content with one another on forums, grasp onto the burgeoning tech as a means to engage in abusive and illegal fantasies. This latest revelation also fits into a [broader and growing trend]() of [AI-abetted sexual abuse](). It's a worrisome example of how synthetic content stands to cause real-world harm. And in this case, that harm is wrought on society's most vulnerable. **More on AI and sexual abuse:** [*There's a Problem With That AI Portrait App: It Can Undress People Without Their Consent*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()