Catholic school in Rio investigates students who used AI to fake nudes of classmates

The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro and the management of an elite Catholic school are investigating complaints made by parents of students at the institution about digital photo manipulation. According to the families, students had used an artificial intelligence tool to place the faces of students aged 14 to 16 in photos of nude models, and were spreading the images on social media. According to the newspaper The globe, around 25 students would have been victims of the montages, which began to be publicized last Friday. According to the newspaper Folha de S.Paulothose responsible for the installations would be students from the 7th to 9th year of elementary school at Colégio Santo Agostinho, in the Rio neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca.

Interviewed by The globe, the mother of a student stated that one of the students responsible for publishing the manipulated images had said that he would not be punished because he was “white and rich”. “The girls are having anxiety attacks and crying. (…) These students are still in the same class and they are having to coexist. They make fun of the situation,” said the mother. Families are particularly concerned about the possibility of the images being published on erotic websites and possible repercussions for the students’ lives. “I don’t know where this photo of my daughter ended up. She will have to keep the incident record forever. (…) In the future, someone from her work may receive a recording or photo and think it really is her. How will she look? She needs proof that shows that she is not selling adult content or anything like that,” said the mother.

The families of the students who were victims of image manipulation hope that Colégio Santo Agostinho will expel the students who created and published the montages. The school informed both newspapers that it is investigating the facts and will adopt the measures provided for in the school regulations, without, however, detailing the possible penalties in this case. In 2018, the Rose Leonel Law included article 216-B in the Penal Code, which punishes anyone who “produces, photographs, films or records, by any means, content with a nude scene or sexual act or libidinous act of an intimate and private nature without authorization from the participants”, as well as making “photograph, video, audio or any other recording with the aim of including a person in a nude scene or sexual or libidinous act of an intimate nature”. As the students investigated are under 18, they will not be subject to the penalty provided for by law; however, if their responsibility is proven, article 932 of the Civil Code provides for the possibility of parents having to pay for possible reparations.