A New Jersey high school has been plunged into crisis after male students were caught sharing AI-generated nudes of their female classmates.
Some male students in the sophomore class of Westfield High School in New Jersey used an AI-powered website to generate pornographic images of their classmates using girls’ photos found online.
One of the victims, Francesca Mani, who is just 14, has filed a police report.
‘At first I cried, and then I decided I should not be sad. I should be mad and should advocate for myself and the other victims,’ Mani told the Wall Street Journal.
Her mother, Dorota Mani, told the publication: ‘I am terrified by how this is going to surface and when. My daughter has a bright future and no one can guarantee this won’t impact her professionally, academically or socially.’
Male students at Westfield High School in New Jersey (pictured) used an AI-powered website to generate pornographic images of their classmates
Westfield High School Principal Mary Asfendis alerted parents to the situation in an email on October 20
Another victim said: ‘We’re aware that there are creepy guys out there but you’d never think one of your classmates would violate you like this.’
Westfield High School Principal Mary Asfendis alerted parents to the situation in an email on October 20.
‘This is a very serious incident,’ Asfendis wrote.
‘New technologies have made it possible to falsify images and students need to know the impact and damage those actions can cause to others.’
Asfendis said she believed the images had now been deleted and were no longer being circulated.
A spokesperson for Westfield Public Schools told the Journal they would not provide details on the number of students involved or confirm whether any disciplinary action had been taken, due to student confidentiality.
‘To be in a situation where you see young girls traumatized at a vulnerable stage of their lives is hard to witness,’ Westfield’s first female Mayor Shelley Brindle told the publication.
More than 90% of such false imagery known as ‘deep fakes’ are porn, according to image-detection firm Sensity AI.
States, including Virginia, California, Minnesota and New York, have outlawed the distribution of faked porn or given victims the right to sue its creators in civil court however experts believe federal law is failing to keep up with technological changes of this sort.
‘This has to be a serious crime in New Jersey,’ Jon Bramnick, a New Jersey state senator whose district includes Westfield told the Journal.