AI-generated child abuse content is alarmingly increasing. This was confirmed by the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The warning of NCMEC comes as child safety researchers and experts sounded the alarm regarding the risk of generative artificial intelligence models.
For the past few months, they said that these AI tools-which can easily generate images and create texts-could make online exploitation worse.
AI-Generated Child Abuse Content Alarmingly Increases, Says NCMEC
Generative AI tools can easily be used by anyone. All you need to do is use prompts to instruct these AI models to create the images and texts you want.
But, since it can be accessed by anyone, this means that malicious actors can also take advantage of it, and this is what's happening in the U.S. and other parts of the globe right now.
NCMEC said that in 2023, it received more than 4,700 reports about AI-generated child abuse content. However, the child protection organization hasn't published the total number of child abuse photos and other content generated by AIs.
This means that this could still increase as NCMEC continues tallying the AI-generated child abuse content reports it received. In 2022, NCMEC said that it received reports of over 88 million files.
"We are receiving reports from the generative AI companies themselves, (online) platforms, and members of the public. It's absolutely happening," said NCMEC Senior Vice President John Shehan via US News.
NCMEC shared its statistics as social media chief executives are testifying in a Senate hearing regarding online safety.
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UK Also Faces Same Issue With AI Tools
The United Kingdom is also suffering from increasing child sex abuse materials generated by artificial intelligence tools. But, what's alarming about the U.K.'s problem with AIs is that these child abuse content are made by children.
The U.K. Safer Internet Center said that it received a small number of reports from schools because some students are using AIs to generate child abuse material, as reported by BBC News.
UKSIC suggested that school teachers and parents work together to solve the issue, especially since most of these children are just victims of their curiosity.
However, the main issue here is that the U.K. law considers making, possessing, and distributing images depicting child abuse illegal in all circumstances whether they are real or AI-generated.
