Latest birthday photos of your kids, cute dance videos. Sharing on social media adds to your family's digital footprint. Depending on the settings you choose, the AI may use them.
Dr. Siwei Lyu, a digital forensics expert and father of two, is a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the State University of New York, where he studies how AI learns from public data. The danger of sharing anything online is that it becomes a fair shot for AI deepfakes (fake photos, videos, or audio created from real images or recordings). Deepfakes can impersonate anyone, including children and teens.
“Children's data can be misused to recreate images and videos of children in non-realistic situations,” Liu explains. “That content can remain online and affect children for years.”
Quitting social media isn't necessarily the answer. Instead, Lyu tells her children to be thoughtful in their sharing. Post less, choose private settings, and pause and consider what you're sharing before uploading anything personal. Here, Lyu explains how to manipulate your digital footprint to create AI deepfakes.
How it works: From real photos to AI deepfakes
-
Step 1: Your photo will be published. When your child uploads a photo or video, it becomes part of the web. Even if you think it's private, if someone takes a screenshot and uploads it, it can end up online.
-
Step 2: The operation takes place. Users must select an image and upload it to the AI deepfake tool. This is when we move from simple image capture to digital manipulation.
-
Step 3: Shared. Once created, AI deepfakes can spread quickly by being shared on social platforms, sent in private chats, or posted on websites that traffic images generated or modified by AI. At that time, it can become harmful or invasive.
