As the adoption of generative AI grows, its misuse to generate nudes of women and children is also rising, finds Satyen K. Bordoloi as he narrates the inspiring story of a teen who fought back
India has always been an enthusiastic adopter of technology. However, widespread integration into its vast population has been gradual. This trend is mirrored in the adoption of generative AI, where numbers are high, and percentages low. As AI use becomes more widespread, the potential for misuse also increases. A pressing concern is its use to generate explicit images.
Numerous websites now offer tools to ‘nudify’ photos. Their adoption would increase the risk of harassment and blackmail, mirroring troubling trends seen in Western nations, and poses a significant threat to the most vulnerable among us, particularly children, teens, and women.
However, hope comes from those who have fought back, bringing legal and societal changes. One of them has been a fightback from 16-year-old Kaylin Hayman, a child actor, whose resistance has become a beacon of hope for victims of child sexual exploitation worldwide. While serving as a stark reminder of the darker side of technology, her story has also turned the spotlight on the urgent need for action to protect children from the ever-increasing menace of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Who Is Kaylin Hayman: Kaylin Hayman began as a child with commercial and print advertising, gradually growing to acting in two series One Day at a Time and The Mick. Her breakthrough came in 2019’s Just Roll With It, a family comedy series for the Disney Channel. The uniquely written show was filmed in front of a live studio audience where after particular scenes, the show was paused to give audiences choices for the next scene.
What they chose, was enacted. The improvisational elements of the show where Kaylin played Blair – a strong-willed and sassy girl who loved pushing the limits – was popular with viewers. Over the years, she amassed tens of thousands of followers on Instagram.
The Nightmare: In 2021, when Kaylin was just 12 years old, her family was contacted by the FBI. An agent informed that her face had been used in a series of AI-generated child sexual abuse images. These images, created by digitally superimposing her face onto nude bodies and adults engaged in sex acts, were so stark and terrifying that no child should ever have to face them. Kaylin’s reaction was immediate, expected, and intense. She broke down in tears, feeling a deep sense of violation. “It feels like such an invasion of my privacy. It doesn’t feel real that someone I don’t know could see me in such a manner,” she later told Sky News.
The Perpetrator: The individual responsible for creating those images was James Smelko, a 57-year-old repeat sex offender from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, thousands of miles from where Kaylin was. Smelko had a history of such crimes. Her AI-generated images found on his computer were just some of about 40 child actors whose images Smelko had morphed. A photo submitted as evidence at the trial was done by Smelko using her 12-year-old face from a photo posted on Instagram to superimpose it on the naked body of another.
Investigation revealed that Smelko had accessed these images on two separate occasions, and even after being charged, continued to violate his pretrial release conditions by accessing similar content. The FBI Pittsburgh Field Office investigated the case, and Smelko was eventually charged with one count of possessing child pornography and one count of accessing with the intent to view child pornography.
A Courageous Testimony: Kaylin was called in to give testimony. She could have backed down from the trauma of it, but she chose to testify against Smelko in a federal court in Pittsburgh where she provided a powerful and emotional account of her experience. Her testimony proved crucial in securing Smelko’s conviction and ensuring justice was served. In November 2023, the Pittsburgh federal jury convicted Smelko of his crimes, leading to a significant sentence of 14 years and seven months in prison.
Kaylin’s Activism: The matter would have ended there, except Kaylin found, that her case came to trial only because it was an interstate crime and though possessing any CSAM is criminalised under US federal law, California’s state laws did not consider AI-generated or morphed images as crime. This loophole in the world’s AI capital, Silicon Valley – so horrified Kaylin that she decided to become like the character she played in Just Roll With It and became a public advocate for children’s rights and online safety.
In June this year, Kaylin testified in favour of a new California bill, Assembly Bill 1831, proposed by Democratic Assemblymember Marc Berman of Menlo Park. This bill aims to broaden existing laws against CSAM to include AI-generated images and videos. Her advocacy played a crucial role in the passage of this bill, which was signed into law in September, enabling stricter penalties for those who create and distribute AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
Rising Threat of AI-Generated CSAM: Kaylin’s case is part of a larger, and increasingly alarming trend. US’s National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), noted that in 2023 reports of online child abuse increased by over 12%, surpassing 36.2 million. Most tips were related to the circulation of CSAM. Predators used AI-made CSAM to extort children and families for financial gain, with the NCMEC receiving 4,700 reports of such content, a category it began tracking beginning that year.
This number is expected to grow as AI becomes more sophisticated and accessible. The realism of AI-generated images is so convincing that it often requires extensive investigation to distinguish them from real images. This complicates the legal process and erodes the effectiveness of existing laws.
The most troubling aspect is the psychological and social toll it extracts from victims. Kaylin described feeling a deep sense of violation and loneliness upon learning about the images. Her experience is echoed by many other young actors and children who have been similarly exploited. The trauma extends to affecting their social lives and mental health. Kaylin’s message to other victims is one of hope and solidarity: “It truly gives the feeling of being alone. To all other victims, I am living proof that you are not alone,” Kaylin said, emphasising the importance of seeking help and support.
India is a nation where thousands of acid attacks on women take place yearly. Gen AIs use to create and morph images easily will be another tool in the arsenal of people with malintent to harm others, including children. As the use of generative AI spreads, so will the cases of CSAM. The various state governments, particularly the Government of India, should proactively work with agencies to fight this menace before it raises its head and causes untold devastation to hundreds of thousands of individuals and their families.
Kaylin Hayman’s story has another inspiring outcome. Although the crime forced her to mature faster, it sparked a new ambition: she now aspires to study law and specialise in children’s rights. This is undoubtedly positive. Yet, it begs us to ask: if we can’t let our children have the freedom to be children for as long as they should, isn’t that a profound failure of our society? And in failing them, aren’t we ultimately failing the very fabric of our humanity?
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