Twenty-four million individuals visited undressing websites in September alone according to the Hindustan Times. Popular social networks are used by many of these “nudity,” or undressing, businesses for marketing purposes, according to Graphika. For example, the researchers found that since the start of the year, there have been over 2,400% more links on social media, particularly on X and Reddit, promoting undressing applications. The services replicate an image of a person in their underwear using AI. Many services are limited to women.
These applications are a part of a concerning trend whereby developments in artificial intelligence are being used to create and spread non-consensual pornography, or “deepfake pornography,” which is created material. Since the photos are frequently obtained from social media and shared without the subject’s knowledge, agreement, or control, their widespread use is fraught with ethical and legal issues.
Actor Rashmika Mandanna fell prey to a deepfake recently. On the internet, a phony video of her became quite popular.
Actor Tom Hanks used Instagram on October 1st to notify his followers of an alarming instance of deepfake use. When he saw that a dental plan commercial had a convincing deepfake of himself, he felt compelled to warn people, saying, “Beware, I have nothing to do with it.”
Jimmy Donaldson, better known online as Mr. Beast, is an extremely popular YouTuber who was recently duped by deceptive AI-generated ads. A deepfake of Donaldson was used in a TikTok advertisement that purported to be offering viewers $2 iPhones.