Guest Speaker: AI Abuse

This afternoon session is the second of two visiting guest-speaker sessions on Wednesday 6/10. It examines AI-powered image-based sexual abuse and the landscape of technical and policy defenses. The morning session focuses on AI governance. There is no afternoon activity on this day.

Elissa M. Redmiles

Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Georgetown University; Faculty Associate, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University

Redmiles uses computational, economic, and social science methods to understand users' security, privacy, and online safety decision-making. Her current work focuses on defense-in-depth against image-based sexual abuse, including the AI generation of intimate imagery; her research on AI "nudification" websites was a runner-up for the 2025 Internet Defense Prize.

An AI-Involved Landscape of Sexual Abuse

Image-based sexual abuse is a form of sexual violence that encompasses the non-consensual creation and/or sharing of sexual content. Decades of research in computer vision and AI has led to broad availability of techniques such as inpainting and body mesh estimation, which can be used to e.g., edit a source image of a clothed individual into a nude image or even video. GenerativeAI companions bring such content to life, allowing users to interact with fantasy versions of those they know in real life and manipulative design keeps users in these “relationships” even when they attempt to leave.

While several countries have criminalized the rising use of generative AI to create and disseminate image-based sexual abuse content, the landscape of technical defenses is bleak. Drawing on over half a decade of research in Europe and the US on the use cases, threat models, and protections needed for intimate content and interactions, this talk will explore the past, present, and future of AI-powered sexual abuse. We will explore key threat models, potential lines of defense, and underlying open questions that can facilitate conversations about the scientific and humanistic definition of AI safety.