Students in the Windsor area are using artificial intelligence to generate explicit deepfake images of their classmates — and the problem shows no signs of slowing down, despite recent shutdowns of major online platforms. Youth Diversion Essex County, an organization which supports youth referred for criminal or disruptive behaviour, said it receives “two to three referrals every week” related to students creating and sharing fake pornography using AI, according to its executive director. One case from a few weeks ago involved a Muslim girl, whose image was manipulated. “They created a naked image of her,” said Joanna Conrad, program manager with Youth Diversion. “It went to multiple schools throughout and beyond Windsor and Essex. Who knows how far it went?” Last week, Mr. DeepFakes — the most well-known site for AI-generated porn — was taken offline. Messaging platform Telegram has also been removing bots that generate non-consensual explicit content. But Conrad believes those moves are unlikely to slow the problem. “Even though Mr. Deepfakes has been shut down, there are multiple sites that do the exact same thing,” she said. “They’re only going to increase traffic to those sites, if not another one starting up.” Deepfake AI porn uses artificial intelligence to create realistic, but entirely fake, explicit images and videos, often by pasting someone’s face onto another person’s body. While it’s not currently illegal in Canada to create a deepfake, distributing a non-consensual sexual image is a crime. Conrad said many students don’t realize the difference, or the emotional impact, their actions can have. “She had to go home and explain to her parents, who very well may not even believe her,” she said. “What ramifications might she be facing? The anxiety, the depression, the humiliation. Most kids don’t understand the legal ramifications. Even if there wasn’t a law — where’s the empathy? That should lie within each and every one of us.” In response to an inquiry from CTV News, the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board said incidents of AI-generated explicit content remain rare — but are taken seriously when they occur. “We have only had a few occurrences of this sort of malicious behaviour this year,” spokesperson Stephen Fields said. “There would be serious consequences for any students who were caught doing it, which typically include suspension from school.” Following suspension, students are often referred to agencies such as New Beginnings and Youth Diversion for additional education. “These programs help them better understand the impact and consequences of their actions, so that ultimately, they would never repeat this harmful behaviour again,” the board said. Support systems are also made available for students who are targeted, which may include help from child and youth workers, mental health staff, or community partners. The board added it is “continually educating students” through presentations by police and groups like Youth Diversion, while also offering professional development for staff focused on bullying, deepfakes, and digital safety. “By being vigilant about this issue and through educating our staff and students, we believe that we can reduce the amount of incidents that occur,” Fields added. Local creative director Devon Pastorius said these tools are rarely found in official app stores. Instead, users often download so-called “nudify apps” directly from websites outside the reach of Apple and Google’s regulations. “Your phone’s just a computer. You can get these apps from illicit websites,” said Pastorius, who owns full-service advertising agency, Windsor Creative. “They’re incredibly pervasive across the globe. Unfortunately, where there’s demand, somebody is going to create a supply.” Tackling the issue, he said, will require better education, especially as AI tools continue to evolve faster than lawmakers or school curriculums. “We need better media literacy across the board,” he said. “Kids need to understand this isn’t funny if you’re the perpetrator and it can happen to you. These are the consequences that come from being online in a digital space.” Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to introduce legislation criminalizing the creation and distribution of non-consensual deepfake pornography. But for Conrad, the legal system alone isn’t enough to mitigate students’ use of AI deepfake technology to humiliate their classmates. “These are discussions that need to happen at home — the same way you’d talk to your child about not being rude to someone at the playground,” she said. “They need to understand the impact this can have on someone’s life.”
