The South Australian government is introducing new legislation to criminalise sexually explicit deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence.
The proposed bill will see offenders face severe penalties, including up to four years in prison and fines of up to $20,000.
High school teacher Hannah Grundy became a victim of deep fake technology when explicit images of her face superimposed on another woman’s body surfaced online.
“When I first saw the content it was catastrophic. It was nightmarish,” she said.
It’s stories like Hannah’s that have prompted authorities to address the darker side of artificial intelligence.
“As technology changes and as AI-generated content becomes indistinguishable from the real content that it is posing great danger,” Attorney-General Kyam Maher said.
The legislation extends beyond the creators of deep fakes, targeting those who host, forward, or provide platforms for such content.
If the bill passes, the next challenge will be policing it, raising the question of whether the state has enough resources to effectively enforce the law.
This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.
