Is it okay for me to make AI porn of my adult friends or family?
As technology continues to change and advance, we have received questions from youth and young adults who are wondering whether it’s okay to turn their friends, family members or partner’s non-sexual images into porn through the use of AI.
No, it’s not okay — and it may be illegal too.
Making AI porn without consent is not okay.
It may seem harmless to take everyday photos of someone and turn them into AI pornography. But it is not!
When you take photos of someone else and use them to create AI pornography without their consent or even knowledge, you are violating their ability to consent and potentially putting them at risk by sharing their image.
You’re creating images that look like this individual, that aren’t this person — and they have no ability to control how they’re used or shared. They also didn’t consent to you making life-like nude images or videos of them in the first place. If these AI porn images get shared online, this is illegal and these images and videos can have real-world consequences for that person. Even if you’re not planning on sending or downloading these images, it’s important to understand why this still isn’t okay.
If the person in the photo you’re using is under 18 years-old, this has even more severe illegal consequences. For a more in-depth look into this topic, check out our blog called How is AI being used to sexually exploit youth online?.
Once created, AI porn can be used maliciously and is out of everyone’s hands.
When you upload an image into AI to create pornographic images, you no longer have control over it and what happens next — and neither does the person whose image you’ve shared. It scrapes the metadata (the location, time and date of the photo), the relationship you may have with the individual, and it can also then use these photos to train other AI or even surveillance applications.
This person’s image can now be used to create deepfakes: fake images or videos that can look or sound just like the individual they’re impersonating, and this has been used to scam friends and family, and to also hurt someone’s reputation. This can even be true with the images we post publicly on blogs, social media and upload to the cloud.
AI porn of someone can have lasting impacts.
When you create AI porn of someone, there are now life-like images or videos of this person that can put them in compromising positions – in situations they never actually were in, or even with people they don’t know, haven’t met or had a sexual relationship with — and that look lifelike and realistic. In a world where nudes and sex in general can still be a stigmatizing topic, this can have far-reaching negative ramifications to the person whose picture was used.
It can impact their job, their health, their relationships and wellbeing — and this is an ethical breach of consent that takes away their autonomy. This is different from drawing an explicit picture of someone (and then keeping it to yourself and never sharing it with that individual or anyone else), as you’ve now given the AI the power to do what it wishes with your friend, partner or family member’s picture without their input at all. Even if you don’t plan to download or send this AI porn to anyone, you actually already have shared it with the AI.
Laws are already in place or being drafted that make AI porn illegal.
Laws are quickly being introduced, and in the US, many states are starting to draft legislation that treats AI porn the same as non-consensual image abuse (when people share consensually given images to places or people it wasn’t originally intended for, like online or with a friend).
People are asking these questions because they want to make safe choices for themselves and others, and that’s great! If you or someone you know has a question about this topic, you can reach out to our knowledgeable helpline counselors here.