Author and writer Becca Caddy recently became a victim of AI revenge
porn.
Becca received a suspicious email containing naked pictures of her that
she’d never taken, alongside threats and blackmail. The scammer said that if
she didn’t send them almost £2500 worth of bitcoin that the pictures would be distributed
to her friends, family and employers.
At first, she didn’t see the attached images to the email and thought it was
just “a typical scam” and she was ready to hit delete; however, she
soon realised another follow up email had been sent, containing explicit
pictures of her that she’d never taken. The images had been AI generated.
She’s now posting on her X (formerly known as Twitter) account, @beccacaddy,
raising awareness and sharing the images publicly. She wants her story to
“prompt someone else who’s received them to not feel shameful and for
parents to talk to their kids about what to do if this happens”.
Currently, creating sexually explicit AI images of someone without their
permission isn’t a crime, however it is currently making it’s was through
Parliament and will hopefully be a chargeable offence soon. The Government do
have AI regulators who monitor the use of the technology, and it was announced
in February that £100 million will go into teaching these regulators the skills
to carry out this job effectively.
Castleford mum Alicia Manners, who also works in a secondary school, said
that if this happened to her teenage daughter, she “would be distraught
and worried how this would affect her future”. She also said she’d be
“devastated” if her daughter didn’t tell her and that they “have
an open and honest relationship.” Multiple mums I spoke to had minimal to
no clue that images could be manipulated to such an extreme degree. Wasan
Sliwo, another mum from Leeds, thinks that people should “continue to
raise awareness and educate users on how to safely use online platforms”.
Miss Caddy’s advice to anyone who has fallen victim to AI generated revenge
porn is to stay calm. “In a panicked state you’re more likely to hand over
cash”. She also encourages victims to tell someone. “Talking to
someone immediately dispels the feeling of shame and they can help you.”