A Victorian man has been jailed for producing hundreds of AI-generated child abuse images.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Superintendent Bernard Geason said child abuse material generated by artificial intelligence and conversations about sexually exploiting or abusing children were illegal.
“Anything that depicts the abuse of children – whether that’s videos, images, drawings or stories – is child abuse material,” Supt Geason said.
Victoria Police Detective Superintendent Tim McKinney said artificial intelligence was an evolving issue in this space.
“We are encountering a rise in the reporting of offending where AI is being used in the creation of child abuse material,” D/Supt McKinney said.
“In some instances, real children are being used to help create these images, objectifying these innocent victims, most of whom are unaware their images are being used in this way. AI that depicts child abuse material is illegal and punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment.”
The Melbourne man was sentenced to 13 months’ jail for online child abuse offences.
Police found the man had used an AI image generation program and inputted text and images to create 793 realistic child abuse images.
