A third school in Southern California has been hit with allegations of digitally manipulated images of students circulating around campus.
The Los Angeles Unified School District has launched a formal investigation into allegations that Fairfax High School students created and shared “inappropriate images.”
LAUSD officials allege the images were distributed on a “third-party messaging app” not affiliated with the district.
“These allegations are taken seriously, do not reflect the values of the Los Angeles Unified community, and will result in appropriate disciplinary action if warranted,” the district wrote in a statement Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Unified School District launched an investigation after Fairfax High School students allegedly created and shared “inappropriate images.”
District officials said the images were shared on a “third-party messaging app,” but did not clarify whether the images were created using artificial intelligence.
Additionally, they wrote, LAUSD “is committed to improving education around digital citizenship, privacy, and safety for everyone in our school communities.”
The incident is the latest in a series of scandals affecting schools in the Southern California region.
Last month, administrators at Laguna Beach High School launched an investigation after a student allegedly created and circulated “inappropriate images” of his classmates.
In an email to parents on March 25, Principal Jason Allemann wrote that school leadership was “taking steps to investigate and directly address this issue with those involved.”
At the same time, he added, the issue should be seen as “a teaching moment for our students, reinforcing the importance of responsible behavior and mutual respect.”
The Laguna Beach Police Department is assisting with the pending investigation, which comes amid a separate Beverly Hills Police Department investigation into the distribution of ‘deepfakes’ at a local high school.
The Beverly Hills Unified School District issued a statement to parents when artificially generated photos of naked students began circulating around Beverly Vista High School in late February.
An investigation is underway at Laguna Beach High School, where a student allegedly created and circulated “inappropriate images” of his classmates last month.
The term “deepfakes” is used to refer to AI-generated media that has been manipulated to replace one person’s image with that of another.
Artificially generated photographs of naked students began circulating around Beverly Vista Middle School in late February, leading to the expulsion of five eighth graders.
“Sixteen eighth grade students were identified as victims, as well as five eighth grade students noted to have been involved,” Superintendent Michael Bregy wrote.
While Brégy acknowledged that children are “still learning and growing, and mistakes are part of the process,” he said disciplinary action had been taken and noted that the incident was quickly contained.
The district pledged to hold accountable any other students who “are found creating, disseminating, or possessing AI-generated images of this nature.”
The board of education voted to expel the five eighth-graders, whose names have not been released, during a special meeting on March 6.
The term “deepfake,” a portmanteau of “deep learning” and “fake,” originated on Reddit in 2017.
It was used to designate images created by a user who transferred celebrity faces into pornographic video clips with the help of artificial intelligence.
Today, the term is widely used to refer to AI-generated media that has been digitally manipulated to replace one person’s image with that of another.
The images produced are often so convincing that deepfake technology has caused mass panic among celebrities and politicians alike.
The term “deepfake,” a portmanteau of “deep learning” (a type of artificial intelligence) and “fake,” originated on Reddit in 2017.
New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez recently shared her traumatic experience of encountering an AI-generated pornographic video of herself online.
The images produced are often so convincing that deepfake technology has caused mass panic among celebrities and politicians alike.
More recently, New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez repeated the traumatic experience of watching an AI-generated pornographic video of herself earlier this year.
He was inspired to introduce legislation in the House that would allow victims of deepfakes to take civil action against the producers and distributors of the offensive content.
“Victims of non-consensual pornographic deepfakes have waited too long for federal legislation to hold perpetrators accountable,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a statement last month.
“As deepfakes become easier to access and create (96% of deepfake videos circulating online are non-consensual pornography), Congress must act to show victims that they will not be left behind.”
The bill, called the DEFIANCE Act, will create a federal civil right of action for victims of so-called “digital counterfeiting.”
It was introduced in the House on March 7 and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.