OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 7, 2023) - As part of a bipartisan 54-state and territory coalition, Attorney General Gentner Drummond is urging Congress to study how artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to exploit children through child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and to protect children from those abuses.
“AI presents a massive threat to our children, and Congress must act swiftly to deter the evils of child exploitation,” Drummond said. “The use of AI to create child sexual abuse material must be expressly addressed and we must ensure that prosecutors have every available tool to combat this disturbing new trend.”
In a letter sent earlier this week, Drummond and the coalition explained that AI is being used to generate CSAM. “For example, AI tools can rapidly and easily create 'deepfakes' by studying real photographs of abused children to generate new images showing those children in sexual positions,” the letter states. “This involves overlaying the face of one person on the body of another. Deepfakes can also be generated by overlaying photographs of otherwise unvictimized children on the internet with photographs of abused children to create new CSAM involving the previously unharmed children.”
Drummond and the rest of the coalition asked Congress to form a commission to study specifically how AI can be used to exploit children and to act to deter and address child exploitation, such as by expanding existing restrictions on CSAM to explicitly cover AI-generated CSAM.
The letter also states, “We are engaged in a race against time to protect the children of our country from the dangers of AI. Indeed, the proverbial walls of the city have already been breached. Now is the time to act.”
In addition to Oklahoma, the South Carolina led letter is co-sponsored in a bipartisan effort by Mississippi, North Carolina and Oregon. They are also joined by Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia. Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Read the full letter at https://www.oag.ok.gov/sites/g/files/gmc766/f/documents/2023/54_state_ag...