Students at Beverly Vista Middle School were accused of generating nude images of their classmates using AI technology.

An investigation was opened by the Beverly Hills Police Department to vet if any criminal offenses apply to the incident.

“We want to make it unequivocally clear that this behavior is unacceptable and does not reflect the values of our community,”a joint statement from Beverly Vista Middle School Principal Kelly Soon and BHUSD Superintendent Michael Bregy said. “Although we are aware of similar situations occurring all over the nation, we must act now. This behavior rises to a level that requires the entire community to work in partnership to ensure it stops immediately.”

Multiple students reported the imagery to the middle school, which is believed to have used the faces of students to be morphed into naked bodies created by Artificial Intelligence.

California lawmakers have drafted multiple pieces of legislation regarding AI pornography, nude images and child exploitation, although none have made their way to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, as of this writing.

The use of AI technology for deepfake purposes gained national attention when users on the X social media platform began sharing artificial naked images of singer Taylor Swift.

Other schools around the country have faced similar issues, most recently in November 2023, when a New Jersey high school student accused a classmate of creating AI nude images of her and distributed them through the Snapchat social media app.

It is not yet clear how many students distributed the images in Beverly Hills, nor how many images there were.

“Collectively, we are nothing short of outraged by this behavior and we are prepared to implement the most severe disciplinary actions allowable under California Education Code,” The statement from Beverly Hills officials said. “Any student found to be creating, disseminating, or in possession of AI-generated images of this nature will face disciplinary actions, including, but not limited to, a recommendation for expulsion.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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