Children are being “attacked” online by so-called AI girlfriend porn apps. The app “grooms” boys to commit sexual violence and encourages girls to accept such acts.
Irish children's charities and pornography researchers say the only way to combat this growing problem is to “criminalize” those responsible for porn companies.
The call comes after the UK government announced a ban on AI girlfriend and “nude” apps and websites, and an Australian investigation found that some sites allow boys to digitally create scenes of women and underage girls being sexually tortured by men.
“They're not girlfriends; they're sex slaves who will do whatever you tell them to do,” says Organ Cleary, a researcher at the independent Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy Research Institute (SERP).
The Australian report, Turning Women and Girls into Porn, looked at 20 AI girlfriend and nudity apps that allow users to customize their porn girlfriends from their digital galleries or from images of girls and women they can upload.
“Users can transform images of women and girls into extreme and degrading pornographic scenarios,” the report states.
Research carried out by campaign group Collective Shout said the apps were also generating images of digital child sexual abuse, with “public galleries displaying a large number of works depicting underage girls, some of whom appeared to be pre-pubescent”.
Mr Cleary, who conducts research into the exposure of Irish children to pornography, said: [Australian] This report accurately reflects the student stories I've seen online and what my own very preliminary research on the issue has revealed.
“We regularly hear from 15- and 16-year-old students that they are being targeted with ads for AI girlfriends and nude verification apps in every space they go online, including not only X, but also TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube, and TV and movie streaming websites and platforms, as highlighted in the Collective Shout report.”
He said these AI technologies are “enhancing” the already increasing violence in adult porn. he said:
“The window of opportunity for action is rapidly closing as the next generation's understanding of sex becomes one of sexual violence.”
He said this isn't about the young people who are seeking this technology. “They're being targeted by this technology everywhere in the online space. We can't lay the blame for this at the feet of teenagers. An industry that's eager to recruit young people is bombarding them with this stuff.”
Fiona Jennings, director of policy and communications at the ISPCC, said the technology was rolling back the rights of women and girls. She said:
“Girls often talk about the pressure to look a certain way, dress a certain way, and act sexually a certain way.”
She said there were reports from SERP and child treatment services that “an increasing number of young girls are seeking treatment after engaging in these sexual acts and sustaining serious injuries.”
Both Cleary and Jennings said the state needs to hold the executives who run these websites and services criminally accountable.
Cali, a voluntary treatment service for children affected by sexual abuse, said the technology caused “grave concerns” for boys and girls.
The Justice Department said the 2020 law made it a criminal offense to use “any visual representation” of a person that has been altered or manipulated to present an intimate image.
