Anna McAdams has always kept a close eye on her 15-year-old daughter Elliston Berry’s life online. So it was hard to come to terms with what happened 15 months ago on the Monday morning after Homecoming in Aledo, Texas.
A classmate took a picture from Elliston’s Instagram, ran it through an artificial intelligence program that appeared to remove her dress and then sent around the digitally altered image on Snapchat.
“She came into our bedroom crying, just going, ‘Mom, you won’t believe what just happened,'” McAdams said.
Last year, there were more than 21,000 deepfake pornographic videos online — up more than 460% over the year prior. The manipulated content is proliferating on the internet as websites make disturbing pitches — like one service that asks, “Have someone to undress?”
“I had PSAT testing and I had volleyball games,” Elliston said. “And the last thing I need to focus and worry about is fake nudes of mine going around the school. …