A Beverly Hills middle school was shocked last week when a photo of a real student's face superimposed on an artificial intelligence-generated nude body appeared online.
According to the Beverly Hills Unified School District, the adult deepfake images were created and shared by students at Beverly Vista Middle School, the Los Angeles School District's only school for sixth- through eighth-grade students, the Los Angeles Times reports. .
Approximately 750 students between the ages of 11 and 14 are enrolled in Beverly Vista, the LA Times reported.
It was not immediately clear who created the nude photo, but it was initially shared through a group chat among students.
School administrators said they would not hesitate to expel the culprit if they were identified.
“Students found creating, distributing, or possessing these types of AI-generated images will be subject to disciplinary action, including but not limited to recommendation for expulsion,” they wrote in an email to parents last week. said in a statement. ” school district officials said in a memo mailed to parents, according to the LA Times.
Parents were also advised to “talk to their children about this dangerous practice”, saying it was “making it more accessible to people of all ages”.
“Students, please tell your friends how offensive and inappropriate this image manipulation is.”
As of Monday, the school had opened an investigation into the nude deepfake incident with Beverly Hills police, NBC 4 Los Angeles reported.
“We will be looking at appropriate discipline to help our students understand that there are consequences and responsibilities for their actions,” said Dr. Michael Breggie, superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District.
Beverly Vista Principal Kelly Skon said in a separate memo to parents that she discussed the issue with students in all three grades at the school during regularly scheduled “administrative chats.” mentioned in.
According to the LA Times, Skon said she asked students to “make sure your social media accounts are private and make sure no one you don't know is following your account.”
“It's very scary that people don't feel safe coming to school,” a Beverly Vista student who requested anonymity told NBC.
“They are afraid that people will show off explicit photos of them,” the student added.
In December, two students were suspended from a Miami high school after they were accused of using AI deepfake software to create nude images of men and women taken from the school's social media accounts.
A parent whose daughter was the victim of the scheme at Pinecrest Cove Preparatory Academy said she was reluctant to return to school due to humiliation and fear.
“My daughter was crying,” parent Vanessa Posso told CBS at the time. “She's not eating anything. She's just mentally unstable. She cheers, but she doesn't even want to come to school to do it.” did.”
The offending students received 10-day suspensions from a Florida charter school, but some parents want them removed permanently.
Weeks earlier, more than 30 girls at Westfield High School in New Jersey had become victims of the act after they learned that the fabricated images were being widely circulated.
According to visual threat intelligence company Sensity, more than 90% of deepfake images are pornographic.
Many also use portraits of celebrities, including Taylor Swift, who was the subject of deepfakes. A deepfake showed Swift in sexual positions at a Kansas City Chiefs game, a nod to her well-publicized romance with the team's tight end Travis Kelce. It took the internet by storm last month.
The account reportedly obtained the image of Swift from Celeb Jihad, which boasts a collection of fake pornographic images, or “deepfakes,” using celebrities' likenesses.
It was not immediately clear which AI websites were used to create the pornographic images circulating in Beverly Vista, but there are several AI websites on the internet, including OpenAI's Dall-E, Adobe's Firefly, and Canva. There are many free image generation tools that use . There are many lesser-known tools such as Freepik, Wepik, Craiyon, and Fotor, just to name a few.
The newspaper has contacted Beverly Vista and the Beverly Hills Police Department for comment.