SW News:

As the nation discusses imposing limitations on cutting-edge technology, Australia's eSafety Commission has expressed worries about the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to support predators in grooming youngsters online. 

Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant tweeted that the manipulative power of generative AI to execute grooming and sextortion is no longer speculative. 

"eSafety is already receiving reports of image-based abuse and cyberbullying involving deep fakes. The fact is that AI has been exfiltrated into the wild without guardrails,” said Grant. 

The Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner was created in 2015 with the launch of the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Act. 

In 2022, almost 60% of roughly 7,000 reports received through the image-based abuse scheme were reports of sextortion – the practice of extorting money or sexual favors by threatening evidence of the victims' sexual activity, a problem that could grow more severe with the increased capabilities of deep fake technology. 

As AI develops the capacity to manipulate media to extremely realistic levels, deep fake technology—AI-generated images, videos, and voices—has grown more credible and accessible. Some experts feel that people will soon not be able to discern between real and manipulated media. Recently, AI has been used to create fake pictures, such as the Pope wearing luxury apparel, and to modify combat photos and videos from the Ukrainian war. 

Australia’s new federal budget, passed last week, contains $41 million for the responsible deployment of AI programs. The Australian Parliament compels social media sites to adhere to the department's safety standards, but AI has gotten by because of how totally unregulated its development and online distribution are. 

The spokesperson for Minister of Science and Technology Ed Husic said that as part of explorations of additional regulation of AI, the government is consulting with a wide range of stakeholders regarding potential gaps and considering further policy. He said the government received advice on near-term implications of generative AI, including steps being taken by other countries.