Last month, several images of pop star Taylor Swift were shared and viewed millions of times. These were no ordinary ones but explicit photos that were generated using AI technology. At that time, there was little information on their origin and who created them. A report has now claimed that those explicit images originated as part of an online challenge on an internet forum 4chan.
According to research firm Graphika, the images were traced back to one community on 4chan. The people who were in the group took part in an online challenge to break safety mechanisms designed to block people from generating such images with AI.
According to the report, users of the forum took part in daily competitions to find words and phrases that helped them bypass the filters on popular image-generation services, which include Microsoft Designer and OpenAI’s DALL-E. The researchers found that the ultimate goal of the challenge was to create sexual images of prominent female figures such as singers and politicians.
“While viral pornographic pictures of Taylor Swift have brought mainstream attention to the issue of AI-generated non-consensual intimate images, she is far from the only victim,” Cristina López G., a senior analyst at Graphika, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.
Photos were created in on 4chan, distributed on Telegram and X
Graphika’s analysis suggests that the deepfakes originated on the channel in early January and then moved to Telegram and X (formerly Twitter) where they were seen by millions sparking outrage. At that time, reports suggested that one of the images remained on X for 17 hours and had more than 45 million views.
“In the 4chan community where these images originated, she isn’t even the most frequently targeted public figure. This shows that anyone can be targeted in this way, from global celebrities to school children,” López G. added.
Explicit images of other celebrities are being created
The report also said that apart from Swift, the 4chan channel is home to explicit images of many celebrities, including Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Emma Watson.
According to research firm Graphika, the images were traced back to one community on 4chan. The people who were in the group took part in an online challenge to break safety mechanisms designed to block people from generating such images with AI.
According to the report, users of the forum took part in daily competitions to find words and phrases that helped them bypass the filters on popular image-generation services, which include Microsoft Designer and OpenAI’s DALL-E. The researchers found that the ultimate goal of the challenge was to create sexual images of prominent female figures such as singers and politicians.
“While viral pornographic pictures of Taylor Swift have brought mainstream attention to the issue of AI-generated non-consensual intimate images, she is far from the only victim,” Cristina López G., a senior analyst at Graphika, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.
Photos were created in on 4chan, distributed on Telegram and X
Graphika’s analysis suggests that the deepfakes originated on the channel in early January and then moved to Telegram and X (formerly Twitter) where they were seen by millions sparking outrage. At that time, reports suggested that one of the images remained on X for 17 hours and had more than 45 million views.
“In the 4chan community where these images originated, she isn’t even the most frequently targeted public figure. This shows that anyone can be targeted in this way, from global celebrities to school children,” López G. added.
Explicit images of other celebrities are being created
The report also said that apart from Swift, the 4chan channel is home to explicit images of many celebrities, including Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Emma Watson.