> The FBI says yes to both in spite of the fact that we can name no
They have two arguments for this (that I am aware of). The first argument is a practical one, that AI-generated images would be indistinguishable from the "real thing", but that the real thing still being out there would complicate their efforts to investigate and prosecute. While everyone might agree that this is pragmatic, it's not necessarily constitutionally valid. We shouldn't prohibit activities based on whether these activities make it more difficult for authorities to investigate crimes. Besides, this one's technically moot... those producing the images could do so in such a way (from a technical standpoint) that they were instantly, automatically, and indisputably provable as being AI-generated.
All images could be mandated to require embedded metadata which describes the model, seed, and so forth necessary to regenerate it. Anyone who needs to do so could push a button, the computer would attempt to regenerate the image from that seed, and the computer could even indicate that the two images matched (the person wouldn't even need to personally view the image for that to be the case). If the application indicated they did not match, then authorities could investigate it more thoroughly.
The second argument is an economic one. That is, if a person "consumes" such material, they increase economic demand for it to be created. Even in a post-AI world, some "creation" would be criminal. Thus, the consumer of such imagery does cause (indirectly) more child abuse, and the government is justified in prohibiting AI-generated material. This is a weak argument on the best of days... one of the things that law enforcement efforts excel at is just this. When there are two varieties of a behavior, one objectionable and the other not, but both similar enough that they might at a glance be mistaken for one another, is that it can greatly disincentivize one without infringing the other. Being an economic argument, one of the things that might be said is that economic actors seek to reduce their risk of doing business, and so would gravitate to creating the legal variety of material.
While their arguments are dumb, this filth's as reprehensible as anything. The only question worth asking or answering is, were (AI-generated) it legal, would it result in fewer children being harmed or not? It's commonly claimed that the easy availability of mainstream pornography has reduced the rate of rape since the mid-20th century.
They have two arguments for this (that I am aware of). The first argument is a practical one, that AI-generated images would be indistinguishable from the "real thing", but that the real thing still being out there would complicate their efforts to investigate and prosecute. While everyone might agree that this is pragmatic, it's not necessarily constitutionally valid. We shouldn't prohibit activities based on whether these activities make it more difficult for authorities to investigate crimes. Besides, this one's technically moot... those producing the images could do so in such a way (from a technical standpoint) that they were instantly, automatically, and indisputably provable as being AI-generated.
All images could be mandated to require embedded metadata which describes the model, seed, and so forth necessary to regenerate it. Anyone who needs to do so could push a button, the computer would attempt to regenerate the image from that seed, and the computer could even indicate that the two images matched (the person wouldn't even need to personally view the image for that to be the case). If the application indicated they did not match, then authorities could investigate it more thoroughly.
The second argument is an economic one. That is, if a person "consumes" such material, they increase economic demand for it to be created. Even in a post-AI world, some "creation" would be criminal. Thus, the consumer of such imagery does cause (indirectly) more child abuse, and the government is justified in prohibiting AI-generated material. This is a weak argument on the best of days... one of the things that law enforcement efforts excel at is just this. When there are two varieties of a behavior, one objectionable and the other not, but both similar enough that they might at a glance be mistaken for one another, is that it can greatly disincentivize one without infringing the other. Being an economic argument, one of the things that might be said is that economic actors seek to reduce their risk of doing business, and so would gravitate to creating the legal variety of material.
While their arguments are dumb, this filth's as reprehensible as anything. The only question worth asking or answering is, were (AI-generated) it legal, would it result in fewer children being harmed or not? It's commonly claimed that the easy availability of mainstream pornography has reduced the rate of rape since the mid-20th century.