In another indicator of the importance of AI oversight, a top UN-appointed human rights expert warned on Monday that the volume of reported child sexual abuse material online has increased by 87 per cent since 2019.

Calling for more action to eradicate child exploitation online, the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, Mama Fatima Singhateh, said that generative AI and eXtended Reality software had made the problem worse.

It is now possible to create computer-generated “deepfakes” and so-called “deepnudes” and distribute them encrypted and without built-in safety mechanisms, the Special Rapporteur said.

Reliability issue

Ahead of Safer Internet Day on 6 February, Ms. Singhateh alleged that the private sector and big tech were “less reliable” than they had promised to be, “with serious ingrained biases, flaws in programming and surveillance software to detect child abuse”, and a failure to crack down on child sexual abuse and exploitation networks.

The Special Rapporteur welcomed the UN Secretary-General’s AI Advisory Body, which is tasked with making recommendations for the establishment of an international agency to govern and coordinate artificial intelligence.

She also insisted that governments and companies should “work together to solve the issue of child abuse, by including the victims’ voices“ in the design and development of ethical digital products to foster a safer online environment.

For guidelines and advice from the UN on keeping children safe online, click here.

Source: UN News

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146217