Saitama prefectural police and a volunteer group visited a junior high school in Saitama to warn about sexual deepfakes, as police data show under-18 victims nationwide have already passed last year's total.
Sexual deepfakes — real people's images altered into sexual content, often with generative AI — have become a social problem. On the 12th, officers and volunteers lectured about 230 students at the school on the dangers.
Students often alter photos of classmates and friends casually, the students were told, and some images end up posted on social media. A test at the end of the lecture checked how much they had understood.
“It's really scary that one photo can turn into a completely different image using AI. Yearbooks and things are very precious, so it's not good for them to go in a bad direction.”a student who took part, junior high school student
Cases among minors top last year's figure
The National Police Agency has confirmed 123 cases of sexual deepfake harm involving people under 18 nationwide in the six months to June. That already exceeds the 114 cases recorded in all of last year.
Junior high and high school students accounted for about 95% of the 123 cases. Three cases involved elementary school pupils, the youngest aged 11.