Chamber approves criminalization of AI-generated nudes – 12/07/2023 – Tech

The Chamber of Deputies approved, this Thursday (7), a bill that criminalizes generating, with artificial intelligence, images of women in situations of intimacy or nudity. The text indicates imprisonment of two to four years for the crime, which can be extended if the victim is a minor.

Deputies approved the proposal unanimously in a symbolic vote. Approved on an urgent basis, the project amends the Penal Code and the ECA (Child and Adolescent Statute.

Since the popularization of AIs capable of generating images, civil society entities around the world have warned about the risk of disseminating false images of women and children.

In Rio de Janeiro, the Civil Police opened an investigation in November to investigate a complaint made by parents and guardians of students at Colégio Santo Agostinho da Barra da Tijuca, in the west zone of the city, that students had tampered with and shared intimate photos of their colleagues on social networks.

The victims claim that students from grades 7 to 9 used an artificial intelligence application to place the faces of girls, whether high school students or not, on naked bodies. Furthermore, the suspects would have also published the doctored images on social media.

In response to the young women’s exposure, deputy Nely Aquino (PODE-MG) proposed, on November 22, a bill that criminalizes “the unauthorized manipulation of a woman’s intimate image.”

This text was attached to another proposal authored by congresswoman Erika Kokay (PT-DF), which deals with the disclosure without consent of women’s intimate content. According to the voted text, using images captured during the woman’s professional, commercial or functional activity would increase the sentence by 50%.

“As there is still no regulation approved regarding artificial intelligence, it is therefore necessary to update the legislation so that guidelines are established regarding crimes committed through the use of artificial intelligence”, states, in an opinion, the rapporteur, the deputy Luísa Canziani (PSD-PR).

The text does not attempt to hold the platforms used to generate the images responsible. It criminalizes only the perpetrator of sexual violence.

Report from Sheet showed that it is possible to clone a voice with five minutes of audio and US$5 (R$25). A video with a copy of the face costs US$500 (R$2,500) and requires a 4K resolution image, with good lighting.

In Brazil, it has been a crime since 2018 to record or take images of a sexual act without authorization, with a penalty of six months to one year.

The penal code also determines prison terms for the practice called upskirting, which consists of recording naked women in public places, such as bathrooms.