As part of a generation acclimated to regularly scrolling through social media platforms, being bombarded with Instagram reels and all sorts of mind-numbing content, the most disappointing and unsettling form of media I’ve been exposed to recently has been AI-generated images of real people. Although I was not personally confronted with anything overtly sexual, this reminded me of a multitude of other stories and experiences that have been circulating on social media as a response to the gross misuse of AI. AI has increasingly been used to intentionally exploit female celebrities, influencers, and even private persons by generating explicit, and most importantly, fake images of them. What is perhaps most disturbing about this, is how easily someone’s identity can be manipulated and used against them, without their knowledge or consent.
This deeply invasive and abusive practice has been perpetuated on so many different counts, and destroys the lives, dignity, and confidence of so many women. With the free and increasingly accessible use of AI, there has been a growing concern surrounding the ways in which people use women’s identities to fulfil their own personal pleasure or profit off their bodies and faces. It is a deeply unsettling thought that a photograph of yourself, posted innocently on social media, can be taken and transformed into something entirely different, something you never consented to and may never even know exists.
The production and consumption of this type of content has become so normalised in online spaces, and more broadly in society, that it even infiltrates relationships and can be used to target and abuse specific people. An upsetting example of this is the famous online dating-guru influencer The Wizard Liz, who opened up on a live stream about allegedly finding disturbing images of herself on her ex-partner’s phone that he himself had generated. It is particularly unsettling to consider that this type of exploitation does not necessarily come from anonymous strangers on the internet, but can also come from people we trust. This form of content is often used in abusive relationships as blackmail or emotional abuse, and can be deeply traumatic or degrading for the women involved. Even if the images themselves are fake, the consequences for the person depicted are very real.
Even ordinary people with public accounts, who simply find pleasure in posting photos of themselves and their lives, can be taken advantage of and exploited in this way, in situations that do not reflect anything they consented to. This behaviour shows a complete disregard for women’s bodily autonomy and the fundamental right to decide how we are represented. Having a public account does not mean surrendering your privacy, dignity, or right to consent. Women should not have to stop posting photographs of themselves, private their accounts, or hide their appearances in order to prevent the misuse of technology. There is something deeply unjust about placing the responsibility on women to make themselves less visible, rather than on those who choose to exploit them.
Beyond the immediate harm inflicted on individual women, this practice is deeply misogynistic, as it primarily targets women and can have devastating consequences for their personal lives, confidence, and careers. The creation and circulation of explicit images can undermine a woman’s reputation, make it harder for her professionally, and expose her to harassment over something she never chose to participate in. There is something particularly vulgar about the entitlement underlying this behaviour: the assumption that someone else’s face and body can be manipulated and used for personal gratification, regardless of whether that person wants to be sexualised in the first place.
This raises significant questions about the objectification of women and the way in which female bodies are treated as objects, rather than as belonging to individuals with their own agency. By taking away a woman’s ability to control how she is represented, AI pornography reinforces the idea that women can be sexualised regardless of their own desires, and that their consent is secondary to someone else’s pleasure. In a society where pornography and sexualised content are already so readily accessible, we should be particularly concerned about the ways in which this type of material can further normalise the idea that women’s bodies are ‘available’ to others. We cannot ignore the wider cultural attitudes that can develop when sexual gratification is repeatedly prioritised over consent. The fact that AI makes this kind of exploitation easier to carry out, makes this violation more dangerous.
Body image issues are also another side to this issue. The impact that AI-generated imagery can have on young women and their perception of their own bodies. We live in a society that perpetuates unrealistic beauty standards, where women are constantly exposed to carefully curated ideals of beauty on social media. AI-generated images add another layer to this, as faces and bodies can be altered, enhanced, and sexualised in increasingly unrealistic ways. For young girls who are still developing their sense of self, the constant exposure to such imagery can distort their perception of what a woman is supposed to look like, contributing to insecurities and body image issues.
Naturally, the issue is complex, as both the regulation of AI and of social media platforms can be challenging. However, the difficulty of regulating a rapidly developing technology should not become an excuse for failing to protect the people who are harmed by it. It begs the question of why these AI tools are so easy to abuse in this manner in the first place, and whether enough is being done by the companies that develop them to prevent this kind of exploitation. Social media platforms should also have an innate responsibility to take more concrete measures against the circulation of non-consensual explicit imagery, rather than simply warning users that something might be AI-generated and leaving the content accessible. The responsibility cannot rest solely on the victims to report the images, deal with the consequences, and attempt to reclaim control over their own identities after the damage has already been done.
This begs the question: what can we actually do about it? While it’s often easy to feel powerless in the face of such a widespread issue, there are still ways in which we can reject contributing to its normalisation. Reporting this type of content whenever we encounter it, including the posts and accounts responsible, is a small but meaningful step. We can also be more conscious of the content we engage with on social media, by not sharing these images for entertainment or curiosity, as even slight engagement can give them further visibility. More importantly, we should speak up about it and actively challenge the idea that this behaviour is harmless. When considering all the harm AI pornography can perpetuate, it’s necessary to refuse to allow this to become normalised or dismissed as simply another aspect of modern society.