People targeted by Grok AI images urged to report it to the Gardaí
Vivienne Clarke
Anyone targeted in deepfake images online is being asked to report it to the gardaí.
Members of the force are due to update an Oireachtas committee later on the steps that can be taken to prosecute tech firms that enable nude images.
It comes after it emerged that the X tool Grok was being used to digitally undress images of women and children.
The Minister responsible for AI, Niamh Smyth, insists X has broken the law and will face repercussions.
Speaking on Newstalk’s Pat Kenny show, she said she believed the existing laws could be used to address this issue, such as the Online Safety Framework, the Child Trafficking and Pornographic Act, and Coco's Law.
"There is nothing innocent about using nudified pictures of women or children, and again I go back to the point, within Irish Law, X is complicit in sharing nudified and child abuse images, if they have the possession or they're facilitating the distribution of these images.
"AI-generated images fall within the law as well; it is illegal to do that. Images are photographs that are distorted, but also AI-generated images. It is all illegal to deal with in Irish and domestic law."
The minister said she plans to meet with the Attorney General, the Taoiseach, and other senior cabinet ministers to clarify the legal situation and determine the appropriate actions to take.
Ms Smyth also outlined the challenges in enforcing the law, such as the potential for tech companies to argue that the technology has benign uses, and spoke of the need to implement the "full rigours" of the European Union's Digital Services Act to support Ireland's efforts
"We do need the full rigours of our European framework as well in all of this. And we have very strict rules within Europe under the Digital Services Act, which isn't that long in place.
“We know that 6,700 images have been created per hour on this app. And it is a time where we have to actually say stop to X, and we do, as I said, certainly the iron fist, if you like, of the European Union to support not just Ireland, lots of European countries in doing this, because we have the laws in place.
"Those who are breaking the laws at X or any other platform that might consider doing this need to feel the full rigours of the law. They need to be criminally held liable, and they need to have fines."
She said as a woman and mother herself, she "will do everything within my power to ensure that these acts are not just the norm on any platform, be it X or any other one."
