The abuse of AI and child abuse images

The abuse of AI and child abuse images
Fr. Shay Cullen
02 July 2023

Recently, I came across this research article by Angus Crawford and Tony Smith that had an introduction that said “Paedophiles are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create and sell life-like child sexual abuse material, the BBC has found.”

That opening statement of fact tells us something shocking about the human species. It is that humans have made the sexual abuse of children a common event and practice, a brutal destructive entertainment, a money-making business to satisfy the lust and evil desire of humans to have sex with children. That is a most unnatural act one could think of. What is more unnatural and more shocking is that most humans ignore, tolerate and so many people approve it and practice it and law enforcers and internet corporations are unwilling or incapable to stop it.

It should make us rethink our own human nature and admit it is seriously morally flawed and tends to choose or tolerate evil rather than seek and establish the good among human kind. We can at least realize it is in need of much expansive moral and spiritual evolution.

The human species is the only one I know of that sexually exploits the bodies of their own offspring. In doing so, they commit a heinous crime and damage and even destroy the life of a human person.

Humans pride themselves as being the most intelligent creatures to evolve, walk the earth and conquer it, create music and art, burn forests, oil and gas coal and change the climate and destroy the environment that sustains all life there. The inextinguishable greed and moral poverty they have almost exterminated all other creatures.

Humans have invented machines to duplicate human intelligence and use it to travel to outer space and walk on the moon. They have devised cunning and effective methods and weapons to kill and annihilate each other and are so aggressive and intellectually insane they are ready to devastate the planet with nuclear war and likely make it unlivable for all life other than cockroaches and rats.

Now, the machines they have invented have become more intelligent than humans. There are now machines that can think a thousand times faster than a human and invest and create proteins and medications and perform mathematical tasks impossible for humans. These machines are the machine slaves of humans and they can and are being used to do the good and the bad that humans want, like creating life-like images of children being sexually assaulted.

The invention of artificial intelligence is a mighty technology being used to supplement human intelligence. As one description has it: “Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the representation of generalized human cognitive abilities in software so that, faced with an unfamiliar task, the AGI system could find a solution. A machine that learns by itself. AI requires a foundation of specialized hardware and software for writing and training machine learning algorithms.

Unlike other tools invented by humans, this one has a mind of its own, has no moral values or restrictions and once it is set a task and left running, it will continue to do it whether good or bad with ever increasing efficiency and improvement every time it is turned on. This computer software will work away at incredible speed to accomplish the new tasks that it can invent and without human interference, can set for itself. This is what is causing concern. The AI can be much smarter than humans that invented it and like the legendary HAL in 2001 Space Odyssey movie, take over the ship or nowadays be used to take over the operation of a nuclear power plant and hold the world to ransom.

Humans are wrongfully and criminally using this AI technology to create horrific images of children being sexually abused in increasingly many ways that the Artificial (or Alternative) Intelligence can devise. Angus Crawford and Tony Smith in their important and disturbing article published on the BBC says: “The makers of the abuse images are using AI software called Stable Diffusion, which was intended to generate images for use in art or graphic design.

AI enables computers to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. The Stable Diffusion software allows users to describe, using word prompts, any image they want – and the program then creates the image.

But the BBC has found it is being used to create life-like images of child sexual abuse, including of the rape of babies and toddlers. Later the article states that a “pseudo-image” generated by a computer which depicts child sexual abuse is treated the same as a real image and is illegal to possess, publish or transfer in the UK.

However now we come to the dissemination of these multiple child abuse images and they are being sold to customers in Japan and through Japanese on-line platforms over the internet. The creation and sale of sexualized images, child pornography and even sex acts with a child is not illegal in Japan. This they say is because the Japanese lawmakers seemingly believe that so long as the image is not that of a real child depicted being raped but a cartoon drawing image of it, it is okay. Even cartoon games of a child being abused is apparently allowed. The pedophiles using AI making very realistic life-like images of child abuse are working overtime and making billions of dollars.

The telecommunication companies and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are still challenged to act to protect children from abuse. Stimulated images of child abuse incite pedophiles to abuse children physically. This AI detection program is so powerful it can identify, detect, intercept and record any image of child abuse passing through a computer server, whether it is of a real child being abused or a simulated one. These simulated AI images are also illegal in most countries except Japan but they can be blocked by an AI program. It is like the battle of the robots.

The ISPs allegedly reject the AI programs since it may slow their servers and they will lose money. The child abuse is allowed to go on, making the telecommunications corporations the enablers of child abuse on-line. AI can be used for the good to protect children but will the powerful ISPs defy the law and ignore their obligation to protect children from harm?  Only a more powerful leader will stand against their influence and power.

www.preda.org