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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

AI is really worrying and I fear this sort of image generation is tip of the iceberg

265 replies

mids2019 · 02/01/2026 21:22

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98p1r4e6m8o

I don't know to what extent current legislation covers this but to my mind any woman with an image on the net could be prone to this. Are we going to reach a stage where our daughters are going to simply not want any image taken of them for fear of how it could be manipulated?

A woman looks back over her shoulder, wearing red lipstick and gold hoops, in front of a Christmas tree

Woman felt 'dehumanised' after Musk's Grok AI used to digitally remove her clothes

The BBC has seen several examples of it undressing women and putting them in sexual situations without their consent.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98p1r4e6m8o

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mids2019 · 02/01/2026 21:32

The law has to be changed more quickly

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MoltenLasagne · 02/01/2026 21:34

AI scares the shit out of me and (because!) I work in an IT related field. I honestly think we need to go back to the early rules of the internet when everyone was a lot more paranoid about putting information out there. Don't use your real name, don't share identifying pictures, don't assume someone is who they say they are.

ErrolTheDragon · 02/01/2026 21:40

mids2019 · 02/01/2026 21:32

The law has to be changed more quickly

And made enforceable. How to do that against foreign tech companies in practice idk.

mids2019 · 02/01/2026 21:51

Does this mean that until we get real enforcement women have to be so obviously vigilant about absolutely any photograph taken? I am thinking about female school teachers and misogynist boys who would think it a laugh to doctor an image and send it around the school? Absolute bans on school photos? I really do fear for the future.

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Fernsrus · 02/01/2026 22:30

Agreed.

VanillaImpulse · 02/01/2026 22:40

I suppose the only bright side is that if someone does send a pic that they later regret that gets spread around (I’m thinking school girls sending nudes to their boyfriends who then send it onto their friends then the entire school) - they can deny it’s them and say it’s AI

spindrifft · 02/01/2026 22:51

MoltenLasagne · 02/01/2026 21:34

AI scares the shit out of me and (because!) I work in an IT related field. I honestly think we need to go back to the early rules of the internet when everyone was a lot more paranoid about putting information out there. Don't use your real name, don't share identifying pictures, don't assume someone is who they say they are.

I agree with you that we all need to be more careful with our personal information, but my recollection of the early days of the internet is very different - public email directories were common, and on Usenet in the 1980s everyone used their real name, and people freely posted their address and phone number.

mids2019 · 02/01/2026 23:03

It's that awful prospect of all women becoming inadvertent objects of pornography which is particularly chilling. I think enforcement of any law might be problematic as his do you go about proving what is AI and what is real?

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WaryCrow · 03/01/2026 00:42

It is very worrying. I find myself however reminding the old saws about how the weapons themselves are not dangerous, it’s the people who use them.

Men reveal themselves again and again and still try to spin lies. Surely this time they have to admit the contempt they hold us in, and recognise that women are better off without men in their lives at all.

Who am I kidding, right? It’s never been acknowledged that men are our biggest social problem.

IwantToRetire · 03/01/2026 01:43

I think as with guns, its isn't that guns are autonomously dangerous, it is the dangerous (usually men) who decide what the gun should be used for.

AI as a tool could be useful, but if its morals, and aspirations, are based on the male view of the world, then it is of course dangerous to women.

So yet again, something that could be put to beneficial ends, is ending up as another form a male domination of women.

AI didn't think on its own, let's digitly strip a woman, the perverted sick mind of a male person inspired it to think this was of value.

That is the problem with tech generally. The majority of those who create it are male, and they imbue their male values into the systems they create.

There should be 2 tiers in tech. People who are clever at coding, but probably have values none of us would like (ie Musk) who should be treated as drones. Then an upper level, predominantly women, who think of and design a system that would be of use to the world, and not endanger women. They then issue instructions to the code level techs and say get on and do the work to make this happen. And dont try and sneak in any clever deviations from the design output outlined.

It is male dominated AI that is the problem.

(And this isn't reallly a new problem for years now in the internet women in the public eye have had there face imposed onto a naked female body and shared to humiliate and embarrass them.)

SexRealist · 03/01/2026 03:55

mids2019 · 02/01/2026 21:22

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98p1r4e6m8o

I don't know to what extent current legislation covers this but to my mind any woman with an image on the net could be prone to this. Are we going to reach a stage where our daughters are going to simply not want any image taken of them for fear of how it could be manipulated?

I have learnt a lot from my IT-savvy DC who understood this several years ago. No SM in their own name (except LI), refuses to be in photos taken by others who they do not trust (including me when I had an FB account). Even their LinkedIn is super-careful with a slightly altered image in order not to be image-searchable. They berated me recently for unthinkingly using chatgpt to create an image of myself with grey hair. Once your photo is uploaded, who knows how it will be stored, used, manipulated.

No reason to think it should just be DDs acting like this. We unthinkingly give our data away for free, to who knows what end and need a complete change in how we behave online. AI just makes this loss of control over our own information more extreme, but the issue started years ago.

As they say with tree planting, the best time to take action was years go. The second best time is now. The only upside is that if nothing digital is believable anymore, then it may kill itself. But not without a lot of collateral damage first.

mids2019 · 03/01/2026 08:34

@SexRealist

I agree. I have noted similar attitudes with my daughter's which seems to be a really good idea. It is sad to see women and girls so defensive about photographs in general with having to effectively win their trust (even with friends and family) before a photo is taken.

it seems to me that using a camera phone at a public event is going to be a social no no without very good reason. If we can't stamp down on the tech then maybe changing social attitudes about the use of phones is the only sensible way forward.

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Seriestwo · 03/01/2026 08:59

Maybe film cameras will come back and we will all be going to boots to pic up our photos like we did in the olden days

ErrolTheDragon · 03/01/2026 09:15

mids2019 · 02/01/2026 23:03

It's that awful prospect of all women becoming inadvertent objects of pornography which is particularly chilling. I think enforcement of any law might be problematic as his do you go about proving what is AI and what is real?

How much does it matter whether an image is modified/generated by “AI” or any other means or not? The issue is surely whether an image which looks like a real individual is circulated without their consent.

Ihateboris · 03/01/2026 10:13

It's so worrying. Also, even if (like myself) you don't post photos of yourself online, there's no law that stops other people taking photos of you and posting on social media. This happened to me. I was at a local event and photos of said event were posted on a Facebook group! I couldn't fucking believe that you don't have to get someone's permission before posting. I'm a very private person and, apart from Mumsnet, don't do any social media.

BrokenSunflowers · 03/01/2026 11:07

The creation of pornified images from pictures posted on the internet has been going on for ages, including children, and not just images - also deepfake videos. I really hope X responds in a manner to stop this but the BBC article reads as a chance to attack Musk, rather than really address a widespread use of AI and deepfake to manipulate images right across the internet.

PeppercornMill · 03/01/2026 12:01

People have been creating porno-fied images of people for decades. Previously it was Photoshop and cutting out the head of someone from a photo and putting it on top of a pornographic photo, then DeepFake made it a bit easier, AI now does all of it automatically and generates the entire image.

It appears that Grok has limitations to try to prevent the generation of pornographic images, but people are trying to find prompts around the filters, so you're not getting naked photos but rather photos of women in bikinis etc.

The genie is out of the bottle, can't see how any legislation is going to change it, particularly as none of the companies are British.

Apart from DeepFake etc, people should always be careful what they put out their on social media. Fraud and harassment are problems too.

I once complained to a shop's customer service on Twitter, some random user then went through all my historical tweets and started harassing me because I was against the NHS asking irrelevant questions about sexual orientation and gender identity.

SerendipityJane · 03/01/2026 12:08

Seriestwo · 03/01/2026 08:59

Maybe film cameras will come back and we will all be going to boots to pic up our photos like we did in the olden days

Not great for the environment.

PollyNomial · 03/01/2026 12:42

BrokenSunflowers · 03/01/2026 11:07

The creation of pornified images from pictures posted on the internet has been going on for ages, including children, and not just images - also deepfake videos. I really hope X responds in a manner to stop this but the BBC article reads as a chance to attack Musk, rather than really address a widespread use of AI and deepfake to manipulate images right across the internet.

Musk is responsible for what his products are permitted by him to do. If he allows his products to produce these appalling images of children, he deserves to be strongly criticised as a minimum.

Christinapple · 03/01/2026 12:46

Elon Musk is on Twitter laughing about his Grok AI can be used to put "anything" in a bikini- including people. He retweeted a realistic AI image of him wearing nothing but a bikini top and bottoms.

Hilarious when it's done to a guy who doesn't mind it, but it becomes concerning when you realise it can also be done to women who do mind and children.

PollyNomial · 03/01/2026 12:54

Musk is a moderately intelligent but extremely lucky rich, spoilt brat; nothing more. For his own sake, he needs his wings clipping not the endless fawning he gets.

BettyFilous · 03/01/2026 12:57

SerendipityJane · 03/01/2026 12:08

Not great for the environment.

Powering and cooling large data centres has an environmental cost too.