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PLOS One Study: Over Half of U.S. Teens Have Used AI for Sexualized Images

A peer-reviewed PLOS One survey of 557 U.S. teens offers prevalence estimates to guide education, policing training, legal responses.

Overview

  • Researchers report 55.3% of surveyed adolescents created at least one AI “nudification” image and 54.4% received such images.
  • Non-consensual misuse was common, with 36.3% saying an image of them was created without consent and 33.2% reporting non-consensual distribution.
  • Victims described harms consistent with other child sexual exploitation, including fear, hypervigilance, social withdrawal, and lasting disruption.
  • Usage spanned demographics, though male participants reported higher rates of creating and distributing sexualized AI images.
  • The exploratory, U.S.-only study is being cited to inform earlier prevention education, platform moderation, law-enforcement training, and potential legislation, with calls for larger cross-national research.