Mary McGill: Laws on AI sexual abuse images are too late for many victims

Regulations are coming too late for the many people already harmed by AI sexual abuse technology, but a proactive approach could prevent future damage, writes Mary McGill 

The EU ban comes five months after the Grok controversy brought into sharp focus the grim capabilities of so-called ‘nudification’ technologies, apps and websites that use AI to ‘undress’ unsuspecting targets.

On May 7, the European Parliament and Council announced an EU-wide ban on artificial intelligence (AI) systems that "create child sexual abuse material or depict the intimate parts of an identifiable person, or them engaged in sexually explicit activities, without that person’s consent". 

Covering images, audio and video, the new ban will deny access to the EU market to AI technologies with the capacity to create such content. When it comes into effect in December, the ban will also make it illegal to release content-creation technologies "without reasonable safety measures in place to pre-empt the creation of abusive material".