A New Zealand MP has stunned colleagues by showing a nude portrait of herself in parliament.
Laura McClure created headlines when she held up an AI-generated image during general debate last month, as she described how quick it took to create.
‘This image is a naked image of me, but it is not real. This image is what we call a ‘deepfake’,’ she told parliament.
‘It took me less than five minutes to make a series of deepfakes of myself. Scaringly, it was a quick Google search for the technology of what’s available.
‘When you type in ‘deepfake nudify’ into the Google search with your filter off, hundreds of sites appear.’
Three weeks on, McLure doesn’t regret about the stunt and insisted ‘it needed to be done’.
‘It was absolutely terrifying, personally having to speak in the house, knowing I was going to have to hold up a deepfake,’ McClure told Sky News.
‘I felt like it needed to be done, it needed to be shown how important this is and how easy it is to do, and also how much it can look like yourself.’
New Zealand MP Laura McClure brought a deepfake nude of herself into parliament last month
She admitted the stunt was terrifying but said it ‘had to be done’ in the face of the spreading misuse of AI
McLure hopes to overhaul NZ legislation to make it illegal to share deepfakes, as well as nude photographs, without consent of parties involved.
She said the problem was the abuse of AI technology, not the new technology itself.
Targeting AI itself ‘would be a little bit like Whac-A-Mole’, McLure said.
‘You’d take on site down and another one would pop up.’
She said deepfake pornography, however, was a huge concern among Kiwi youth.
‘Here in New Zealand a 13-year-old, a young 13-year-old, just a baby, attempted suicide on school grounds after she was deepfaked, so it’s not just a bit of fun,’ she said.
‘It’s not a joke. It’s actually really harmful.’
McLure was prompted to speak out after concerned parents and education professionals raised the worrying issue.
Ms McLure said deepfakes are not ‘just a bit of fun’ and are incredibly harmful especially to young people
‘The rise in sexually explicit material and deepfakes has become a huge issue,’ she said.
‘As our party’s education spokesperson, not only do I hear the concerns of parents, but I hear the concerns of teachers and principals, where this trend is increasing at an alarming rate.’
McLure warned the issue was not specific to NZ.
‘I think it’s becoming a massive issue here in New Zealand; I’m sure it’s showing up in schools across Australia … the technology is readily available,’ she said.
In February, police launched an investigation in the circulation of AI-generated images of female students at a Melbourne school.
It was thought that 60 students at Gladstone Park Secondary College had been impacted.
A 16-year-old boy was arrested and interviewed at the time, but was later released without charge.
NRLW star Jaime Chapman has been the victim of AI deepfakes and spoke out against the issue
The investigation remains open but no further arrests have been made.
Another Victorian school had a found itself at the centre of an AI nude scandal.
At least 50 students in years 9 to 12 from Bacchus Marsh Grammar featured in AI-generated nude images shared online.
One boy, 17, was cautioned by police before authorities closed their investigation.
The state’s Department of Education expects schools to report incidents to police if students are involved.
Last month NRLW star Jaime Chapman lashed out online after being targeted in a deepfake photo attack, revealing it’s not the first time someone has used AI to produce a doctored photograph of her.
The 23-year-old said the deepfakes had a ‘scary’ and ‘damaging’ effect on her.
‘Have a good day to everyone except those who make fake ai photos of other people,’ she wrote.
Sports presenter Tiffany Salmond has spoken out with a heartfelt statement about the terrible impact on her when a deepfake video involving her was released
‘AI is scary these days. Next time think of how damaging this can be to someone and their loved ones. This has happened a few times now and it needs to stop.’
NRL presenter Tiffany Salmond hit out at criminals online later last month after being targeted in a deepfake photo attack.
The 27-year-old New Zealand-based sports reporter said a photo she had posted to Instagram had been doctored and then shared.
‘This morning I posted a photo of myself in a bikini,’ Salmond posted on Instagram.
‘Within hours a deepfake AI video was reportedly created and circulated.
‘It’s not the first time this has happened to me, and I know I’m not the only woman in sport this is happening to.’
‘You don’t make deepfakes of women you overlook. You make them of women you can’t control.
