While AI has recently been an important part of daily life to make things easier, there certainly are some bad sides as well. And deepfake images are definitely one of them. This menace has targeted many celebrities. Recently, s*xually explicit AI-created images of none other than Taylor Swift went viral on X.
As the singer becomes the latest victim of p*rnographic deepfake images, her devoted fanbase of “Swifties” launched a #ProtectTaylorSwift hashtag on X, formerly known as Twitter and they have flooded the social media site with more positive images of the pop star. Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA and Microsoft CEO has joined others to condemn this act.
Explicit AI-generated Photos of Taylor Swift Gone Viral, The Singer is “Furious“
As nonconsensual s*xually explicit deepfakes of Taylor Swift went viral on X on Wednesday, the singer reportedly got furious over this.
“Whether or not legal action will be taken is being decided, but there is one thing that is clear: These fake, AI-generated images are abusive, offensive, exploitative and done without Taylor’s consent and/or knowledge,” the insider told the Daily Mail Thursday.
“The Twitter account that posted them does not exist anymore. It is shocking that the social media platform even let them be up to begin with,” the source added.
In a statement, X said that
“posting Non-Consensual Nudity (NCN) images is strictly prohibited on X and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards such content.”
The Elon Musk-owned platform said it was “actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate actions against the accounts responsible for posting them.“
One photo, shared by a single user, was circulated more than 45 million times before the account was suspended. But by then, it was widely spread all over the internet.
SAG-AFTRA and Microsoft’s CEO Addresses Their Concern
As po*nographic AI images of Taylor Swift have been circulating on social media, many raised their voices against this growing habit.
The Screen Actors Guild released a statement on the issue Friday, calling the images of Swift “upsetting, harmful, and deeply concerning,” adding that “the development and dissemination of fake images — especially those of a lewd nature — without someone’s consent must be made illegal.”
“We support Taylor, and women everywhere who are the victims of this kind of theft of their privacy and right to autonomy,” the union said.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also spoke his mind and expressed concern.
“I think we all benefit when the online world is a safe world,” Nadella, 56, said in an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt on Friday.
“And so I don’t think anyone would want an online world that is completely not safe for both content creators and content consumers. So therefore, I think it behooves us to move fast on this.”
It’s noteworthy that last year, when SAG-AFTRA started their strike, one of their major concerns was the use of Artificial intelligence. They made a strong demand that a studio must get permission from actors before using anything of their likeness. And, the guild reached an agreement in November 2023 where most of their demand on AI restrictions were included.
