AI-generated fake nude photos of girls from Winnipeg school posted online
CBC
Collège Béliveau is dealing with the dark side of artificial intelligence after AI-generated nude photos of underage students were discovered being circulated at the Winnipeg school.
An email sent to parents Thursday afternoon said school officials learned late Monday that doctored photos of female students at the grades 7-12 French immersion school were being shared online, and that school officials have contacted police.
"We are grateful for and proud of the students who came forward to bring this to our attention," the letter said.
The original photos appear to have been gathered from publicly accessible social media and were then explicitly altered.
A mother of a girl whose altered photos were among those circulated told CBC News that she hopes the person responsible is held accountable, and she questioned why artificial intelligence companies allow this to happen.
School officials didn't say how many photos they believe were shared or how many girls were victimized.
The school is "investigating to get a better understanding of the extent of what happened and who was involved," and officials are "taking necessary steps to respond to the actions of identified individuals who shared these images," the email to parents said.
"While we cannot assume that we have evidence of all the doctored photos, we will directly contact the caregivers of those students for whom we do."
The school, in the Windsor Park neighbourhood, has just under 600 students, its website says.
School officials have also been in contact with Cybertip.ca, a tip line for online abuse that's operated by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection in Winnipeg.
Images received by the school will be uploaded to Cybertip's Project Arachnid, which can help get them deleted.
Const. Dani McKinnon said the police service's counter-exploitation unit is investigating, but it is still too early in an active investigation to provide more details.
"AI is a nuanced, complicated new part of our world," she said. "It's certainly a newer form of surreptitious behaviour. We're in uncharted territory."
No charges have been laid at this time.
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