New Podcast Reveals How AI Is Being Used To Create Child Sexual Abuse Material

Leia isto em português.

In partnership with the Pulitzer Center, Núcleo Jornalismo, a Brazilian digital outlet exploring how technology shapes daily life, has launched a new podcast season examining the dark side of artificial intelligence: its use in creating child sexual abuse material (CSAM). 

In the first episode, journalist Sofia Schurig charts the rapid evolution of AI and its unforeseen consequences, particularly in online child abuse. She explains how AI models work, the risks posed by open-source tools, and why urgent action is needed to confront the threats these technologies bring.

The second, third, and fourth episodes examine how AI is misused to create and distribute illegal content, particularly child sexual abuse material. They explore the role of social media platforms and dark web forums in facilitating this abuse, highlight gaps in moderation, and discuss the urgent need for regulation and platform accountability to protect children online.

The series builds on the investigative project AI’s Role in Child Exploitation, led by Brazilian journalist and researcher Sofia Schurig. The project has had a significant impact, prompting Meta to remove accounts spreading AI-generated CSAM, leading the federal government to open inquiries into the issue. This has resulted in authorities inviting Schurig to speak before the House of Representatives about the growing problems of deepfakes and online misogyny.

The four-episode series, available only in Portuguese, takes listeners deep into the intersection of technology, crime, and human vulnerability.

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Episode 1: Broken Things

In this debut episode, reporter Sofia Schurig discusses the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and its consequences, especially in relation to online child abuse. We also show how AI models work, the risks associated with open source models, and the urgency of a call to action to address the challenges these technologies have brought.

Episode 2: The Heads of the Hydra

How did artificial intelligence, which promised great advances, become a tool for the creation and dissemination of illegal content, especially child sexual abuse? Reporter Sofia Schurig focuses on the role of Telegram and other social networks in facilitating this problem, highlighting the lack of moderation and the resilience of abuse networks.

Episode 3: Rock Bottom

In the third episode of the series, reporter Sofia Schurig delves into dark web forums and explains how artificial intelligence is used to create abusive content. The episode also discusses the need for AI regulation and global efforts to protect children on the internet.

Episode 4: Drying Ice

In the last episode of this series, we discussed the growing concern with the moderation of content generated by artificial intelligence. The SeaArt app, which allows the creation of synthetic images, raises questions about platform responsibility and the lack of regulation in Brazil. Reporter Sofia Schurig explores how Big Tech companies avoid responsibility—and discusses the implications of this for society.