Britain will become the first country to introduce laws against AI tools used to generate sexual abuse images, the government announced late on Saturday.
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The government will make it illegal to possess, create or distribute artificial intelligence tools designed to generate sexualised images of children, punishable by up to five years in prison, interior minister Yvette Cooper revealed.
It will also be illegal to possess AI “paedophile manuals” which teach people how to use AI to sexually abuse children, punishable by up to three years in prison.
“This is a real disturbing phenomenon. Online child sexual abuse material is growing, but also the grooming of children and teenagers online. And what’s now happening is that AI is putting this on steroids,” interior minster Yvette Cooper said on Sunday.
She said AI tools were making it easier for perpetrators “to groom children, and it’s also meaning that they are manipulating images of children and then using them to draw and to blackmail young people into further abuse.
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“It’s just the most vile of crimes,” she added.
The new law would include banning “some of the AI models being used for child abuse,” said the minister.