After artificially generated nude images of female students circulated last week at Beverly Vista Middle School (BVMS), the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) has launched a criminal investigation into the teens involved in making them. Made using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the pictures shared by BVMS classmates showed real students’ faces superimposed seamlessly on naked bodies. The incident represents a growing concern over cyberbullying and the dissemination of nonconsensual “deepfake” imagery, whereby one person’s likeness is digitally manipulated to replace another.
It’s unclear how many students were involved in creating and disseminating the fraudulent images and how many victims there were. According to BHPD Lieutenant Andrew Myers, the investigation is ongoing.
