Beverly Hills Students Are Expelled Over AI Nude Photos

UPDATE Mar 8, 2024 4:25 PM CST

Five "egregiously involved eighth-grade students" have been expelled from a Beverly Hills middle school after AI-generated nude images of 16 classmates were created and circulated. The California school board approved the expulsions on Wednesday night, CBS News reports. Beverly Hills police also are investigating. School officials said the scandal has led to discussions about the ethics of using artificial intelligence. The officials wanted the community to understand the issue was being taken seriously, Superintendent Michael Bregy wrote, adding that they realize "kids are still learning and growing, and mistakes are part of this process."

Feb 28, 2024 1:00 AM CST

A middle school in Beverly Hills, California, is investigating AI-generated nude images of students that were shared by their classmates. Photos of victims' faces were mapped onto naked bodies using artificial intelligence technology, administrators at Beverly Vista Middle School say, though they did not reveal how they determined AI was used to create the deepfakes. The Beverly Hills Police Department says a non-criminal investigation is underway, NBC News reports. The school says students found to be involved could face expulsion and other consequences, ABC 7 reports.

"We strongly urge Congress as well as federal and state governments to take immediate and decisive action to protect our children from the potential dangers of unregulated AI technology," the superintendent of the school district wrote in a letter to parents addressing the incident. "We call for the passing of legislation and enforcement of laws that not only punish perpetrators to deter future acts but also strictly regulate evolving AI technology to prevent misuse." Currently, there is no federal law criminalizing the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes without consent, and an expert says California's laws are murky enough that it's not clear whether this incident is explicitly illegal. Other schools have dealt with similar incidents, leading many to call for a law specifically criminalizing such activity. (More Beverly Hills stories.)