The emergence of Taylor Swift's X-rated images became an eye-opener to the public regarding the dangers of deepfakes.
In January, sexually explicit AI-generated photos of Swift dominated X, showing the singer in improper and provocative positions. Swifties launched the #ProtectTaylorSwift tag after the incident, while X took down the posts and turned off the search temporarily.
Nearly a month after the blunder, the public came together to demand tougher laws in order to prevent similar occurrences.
Open Letter Signed To Combat Deepfakes
More than 400 AI experts, politicians, activists and celebrities signed the open letter, titled "Disrupting the Deepfake Supply Chain," to call for a ban on deepfake technology and demand lawmakers pass a law that will treat such posts as criminal offenses. They also asked them to establish criminal penalties to stop the spread of "deepfake threats."
AI Researcher at UC Berkeley in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Andrew Critch said, "Deepfakes are a huge threat to human society and are already causing growing harm to individuals, communities, and the functioning of democracy."
"We need immediate action to combat the proliferation of deepfakes, and my colleagues and I created this letter as a way for people around the world to show their support for law-making efforts to stop deepfakes," Critch continued.
Meanwhile, Heat Initiative CEO Sarah Gardner explained how it has been increasingly clear that anyone can be a victim of harmful deepfakes - including children.
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"Lawmakers work for us, and they have a moral imperative to protect our kids by acting quickly to hold accountable the platforms and bad actors that are allowing the proliferation of child sexual abuse material," Gardner added.
Through the letter, they pushed media companies, device manufacturers and media companies to join them in creating authentication methods to prevent damaging Deepfakes from surfacing.
Aside from Swift, Scarlett Johansson and Emma Watson also became victims of AI-generated materials.
In response to the recent spread, President Joe Biden's Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said they would push Congress to pass laws against the release of fake and false images.
"The circulation of false images of Taylor Swift are alarming. We know that incidences like this disproportionately impact women and girls," she wrote. "@POTUS is committed to ensuring we reduce the risk of fake AI images through executive action. The work to find real solutions will continue."
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