Researchers have observed a sharp increase in the popularity of apps and websites that use artificial intelligence to undress women in photos.
According to Graphika, a social network analysis company, 24 million people visited undressing websites in September alone.
Popular social networks are used by many of these “nudify,” or undressing, services for marketing purposes, as per Graphika. For example, the researchers found that since the start of the year, there have been over 2,400% more links on social media, particularly on X and Reddit, promoting undressing apps. The services replicate an image of a person in their underwear using AI. A large number of services are limited to women.
These apps are a part of the concerning trend of deepfake pornography, or non-consensual pornography, which is produced and shared as a result of advances in artificial intelligence. Since the photos are frequently taken from social media and shared without the subject’s knowledge, consent, or control, their widespread use is fraught with ethical and legal issues.
According to Graphika, the surge in popularity is linked to the publication of multiple open source diffusion models or artificial intelligence programs that have the ability to produce images that are significantly better than those produced a few years ago. The models that the app developers use are free to use because they are open source.
“You can create something that actually looks realistic,” said Santiago Lakatos, an analyst at Graphika, noting that previous deepfakes were often blurry.
A Google spokesperson said the company doesn’t allow ads “that contain sexually explicit content.”
“We’ve reviewed the ads in question and are removing those that violate our policies,” the company said.
Many victims never learn about the photos, but even those who do may have trouble getting funding for a legal defense or convincing police to look into the matter.
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