Featured Image Credit: Antonio Masiello/Getty Images
The prime minister of Italy shared NSFW AI images of herself in order to make a stark warning to the country.
This comes as deepfakes continue to be a major problem as the advancements of artificial intelligence continue.
With the UK government promising to crackdown on AI generated deepfake images, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni became the latest victim.
And she even shared the image to social media to highlight the issue that many people are facing.
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In the picture, the Italian leader was depicted wearing lingerie, with Meloni writing in the caption: “In recent days, several fake images of me have been circulating, generated using artificial intelligence and passed off as real by some overzealous opponents.
“I must admit that whoever created them … even improved my appearance quite a bit,” she joked. “But the fact remains that, in order to attack and spread falsehoods, people are now willing to use absolutely anything.”
Meloni had previously sued two men for $100,000 after a deepfake video was created of her, later passing a law which criminalised the creation of images which caused ‘unjust harm’ to the victim.
She added: “The issue goes beyond me Deepfakes are a dangerous tool, because they can deceive, manipulate and target anyone. I can defend myself. Many others cannot. For this reason, one rule should always apply: verify before believing, and think before sharing. Because today it happens to me, tomorrow it could happen to anyone.”
Earlier this year, UK Technology Secretary Liz Kendall spoke out about the issue of sexualized AI images in the UK parliament, promising swift action on the matter.
She said: “Sexually manipulating images of women and children is despicable and abhorrent. It is an insult and totally unacceptable for Grok to still allow this if you’re willing to pay for it. I expect Ofcom to use the full legal powers Parliament has given them.
“We are as determined to ensure women and girls are safe online as we are to ensure they are safe in the real world. No excuses.”
Although Elon Musk has promised to take action on his Grok programme, he has since put the deepfakes people are creating behind a paywall to profit off the sexualized content.
Worryingly, the money involved with this content might mean that these sorts of images and videos will sadly always be available to someone who is willing to pay for it.
