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A Florida man is facing 20 counts of obscenity for allegedly creating and distributing AI-generated child pornography, highlighting the danger and ubiquity of generative AI being used for nefarious reasons.

Phillip Michael McCorkle was arrested last week while he was working at a movie theater in Vero Beach, Florida, according to TV station CBS 12 News. A crew from the TV station captured the arrest, which made for dramatic video footage due to law enforcement leading away the uniform-wearing McCorkle from the theater in handcuffs.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Could this be considered a harm reduction strategy?

Not that I think CSAM is good in any way, but if it saves a child would it be worthwhile? Like if these pedos were to use AI images instead of actual CSAM would that be any better?

I've read that CSAM sites on the dark web number into the hundreds of thousands. I just wonder if it would be a less harmful thing since it's such a problem.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

by the same metric, i wonder why not let convicts murderers and psichopaths work at Slaughterhouses

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

On the other hand, are people who work at slaughterhouses more likely to be murderers and psychopaths?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

perhaps, but I said convicted.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Do we know that AI child porn is bad? I could believe it would get them in the mood for the real thing and make them do it more, and I could believe it would make them go "ok, itch scratched", and tank the demand for the real stuff.

Depending on which way it goes, it could be massively helpful for protecting kids. I just don't have a sense for what the effect would be, and I've never seen any experts weigh in.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

In Australia cartoon child porn is enforced in the same way as actual child porn. Not that it answers your question but it's interesting.

I'd imagine for your question "it depends", some people who would have acted on their urges may get their jollies from AI child porn, others who have never considered being pedophiles might find the AI child porn (assuming legal) and realise it's something they were into.

I guess it may lower the production of real child porn which feels like a good thing. I'd hazard a guess that there are way more child porn viewers than child abusers.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

In Australia a 30 year old woman cannot be in the porn industry if she has small breasts. That, and the cartoon ban both seem like overcompensating.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Nothing says "we're protecting children" like regulating what adult women can do with their bodies.

Conservatives are morons, every time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

They're not morons.

Any time anyone ever says they want to do anything "to protect the children" you should assume it's about control. No one actually gives a shit about children.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago

You're missing the point. They don't care what's more or less effective for helping kids. They want to punish people who are different. In this case nobody is really going to step up to defend the guy for obvious reasons. But the motivating concept is the same for conservatives.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I don't see how children were abused in this case? It's just AI imagery.

It's the same as saying that people get killed when you play first person shooter games.

Or that you commit crimes when you play GTA.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Well, the image generator had to be trained on something first in order to spit out child porn. While it may be that the training set was solely drawn/rendered images, we don't know that, and even if the output were in that style, it might very well be photorealistic images generated from real child porn and run through a filter.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

An AI that is trained on children and nude adults can infer what a nude child looks like without ever being trained specifically with those images.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago

Your argument is hypothetical. Real world AI was trained on images of abused childen.

https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/news/investigation-finds-ai-image-generation-models-trained-child-abuse

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

How was the model trained? Probably using existing CSAM images. Those children are victims. Making derivative images of “imaginary” children doesn’t negate its exploitation of children all the way down.

So no, you are making false equivalence with your video game metaphors.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

A generative AI model doesn't require the exact thing it creates in its datasets. It most likely just combined regular nudity with a picture of a child.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

In that case, the images of children were still used without their permission to create the child porn in question

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's a whole other thing than the AI model being trained on CSAM. I'm currently neutral on this topic so I'd recommend you replying to the main thread.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

It's not CSAM in the training dataset, it's just pictures of children/people that are already publicly available. This goes on to the copyright side of things of AI instead of illegal training material.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

It’s images of children used to make CSAM. No matter of your mental gymnastics can change that, nor the fact that those children’s consent was not obtained.

Why are you trying so hard to rationalize the creation of CSAM? Do you actually believe there is a context in which CSAM is OK? Are you that sick and perverted?

Because it really sounds like that’s what you’re trying to say, using copyright law as an excuse.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's every time with you people, you can't have a discussion without accusing someone of being a pedo. If that's your go-to that says a lot about how weak your argument is or what your motivations are.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It’s hard to believe someone is not a pedo when they advocate so strongly for child porn

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You're just projecting your unwillingness to ever take a stance that doesn't personally benefit you.

Some people can think about things objectively and draw a conclusion that makes sense to them without personal benefit being a primary determinant of said conclusion.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You're just projecting your unwillingness to ever take a stance that doesn't personally benefit you.

I’m not the one here defending child porn

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

You're arguing against a victimless outlet that there is significant evidence would reduce the incidence of actual child molestation.

So let's use your 'logic'/argumentation: why are you against reducing child molestation? Why are you against fake pictures but not actual child molestation? Why do you want children to be molested?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Your claim that it’s victimless is, of course, false since real children are used in the training data without consent. This also ignores the fact that the result is child porn, for which you are arguing in support of.

Lastly, your claim that any of this results in any reduction in child abuse is spurious and unsubstantiated.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Your claim that it’s victimless is, of course, false since real children are used in the training data without consent.

Your assumption, but there are a ton of royalty-free images that contain children out there, more than enough for an AI to 'learn' proportions etc. Combine with adult nudity, and a generative AI can 'bridge the gap' create images of people that don't exist (hence the word "generative").

This also ignores the fact that the result is child porn

That's not a fact. "Child porn" requires a child--pixels on a screen depicting the likeness of a person, and a person that does not actually exist in the real world to boot, is not a child.

Lastly, your claim that any of this results in any reduction in child abuse is spurious and unsubstantiated.

I'm just making a reasonable guess based on what's been found about other things in the same subcategory (Japanese research found that those who have actually molested a kid were less likely to have consumed porn comics depicting that subject matter, than the general population), and in other sex categories, like how the prevalence of rape fantasy porn online correlates with a massive reduction of real-life rape.

Seems pretty unlikely that this is going to be the one and only exception to date where a fictional facsimile doesn't 'satiate' the urge to offend in real life, and instead encourages the 'consumer' to offend.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Honestly, I don't care if it is AI/not real, I'm glad that the man was arrested. He needs some serious help for sexualising kids.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And that guy gets that help in a prison, riiight.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago

Depending on the state, yes actually.

I did time in a medium security facility that also did sex offender treatment (I was there on drug charges). I still have friends that went through that program.

The men who were actually invested in getting better, got better. The ones invested in staying well, are still well.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

You and I both know he's not going to get it. I have a kinda sympathy for ppl attracted to kids but refuse to act on it. They clearly know it's not normal and recognize the absolute life destroying damage they can cause if they act on it. That being said there's not many places you can go to seek treatment. Any institutions that advertised treatment would have ppl outside with pitchforks and torches.

Before anyone tries to claim I'm pro pedo you can fuck right off. I just wish it was possible for ppl who are attracted to kids and not out touching them to get some kind of therapy and medication to make them normal (or destroy their sex drive) before something terrible happens.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago

You don't actually know this. See my comment here.

https://lemm.ee/post/40672622/14329948

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Do you think he's going to get help in prison?

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Show me multiple (let's say 3+) small-scale independent academic studies or 1-2 comprehensive & large academic studies that support one side or another and I may be swayed, Otherwise I think all that is being accomplished is that one guys life is getting completely ruined for now and potentially forever over some fabrications and as a result he may or may not get help, but I doubt he'll be better off.

—My understanding was that csam has it's legal status specifically because there are victims that are hurt by these crimes and possession supports a broader market that faciltates said harm to these victims. It's not as easy to make a morality argument (especially a good one) for laws that effect everybody when there are no known victims.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago

Are you stupid? Something has to be in the training model for any generation to be possible. This is just a new way to revitalise kids