It’s not just Taylor Swift: AI-generated porn is targeting women and kids all over the world

The circulation of explicit and pornographic pictures of megastar Taylor Swift this week shined a light on artificial intelligence’s ability to create convincingly real, damaging – and fake – images.

The circulation of explicit and pornographic pictures of megastar Taylor Swift this week shined a light on artificial intelligence's ability to create convincingly real, damaging – and fake – images.

But the concept is far from new: People have weaponized this type of technology against women and girls for years. And with the rise and increased access to AI tools, experts say it’s about to get a whole lot worse, for everyone from school-age children to adults.

Already, some high schools students across the world, from New Jersey to Spain, have reported their faces were manipulated by AI and shared online by classmates. Meanwhile, a young well-known female Twitch streamer discovered her likeness was being used in a fake, explicit pornographic video that spread quickly throughout the gaming community.

“It’s not just celebrities [targeted],” said Danielle Citron, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. “It’s everyday people. It’s nurses, art and law students, teachers and journalists. We’ve seen stories about how this impacts high school students and people in the military. It affects everybody.”

But while the practice isn’t new, Swift being targeted could bring more attention to the growing issues around AI-generated imagery. Her enormous contingent of loyal “Swifties” expressed their outrage on social media this week, bringing the issue to the forefront. In 2022, a Ticketmaster meltdown ahead of her Eras Tour concert sparked rage online, leading to several legislative efforts to crack down on consumer-unfriendly ticketing policies.

“This is an interesting moment because Taylor Swift is so beloved,” Citron said. “People may be paying attention more because it’s someone generally admired who has a cultural force. … It’s a reckoning moment.”

The fake images of Taylor Swift predominantly spread on social media site X, previously known as Twitter. The photos – which show the singer in sexually suggestive and explicit positions – were viewed tens of millions of times before being removed from social platforms. But nothing on the internet is truly gone forever, and they will undoubtedly continue to be shared on other, less regulated channels.