AI is becoming a huge concern, not just for naturism but for everywhere. Once again those in the driving seats of power, (Usually Billionaires) are pushing this technology to its limits as they are ones profiting out of it, and as we are now seeing it is being integrated into everything.
Deep fakes are very concerning, but from our side of the fence, as a couple with a daughter who live within the boundaries of the creative industries such as Writing/Art/Design/Fashion, we have seen our own creative ventures decimated by this advanced technology which is sweeping like a fire storm over every corner of the world.
AI now controls the algorithms of every social media site, and because of the stupidity of social media which shames nudity, we are now seeing platforms that once promoted naturism, such as Tumblr blacking out posts automatically which they deem inappropriate. It does appear that AI is a prude that is now censoring everything, including the news stories it does not feel people should read. Each day on social media Rob gets spammed with adverts for programs that can write a whole book in a day, and most of the mainstream programs Rin once used as part of digital art all generate images at the click of a button, removing any need whatsoever for any artistic ability. Garment design programs are now available that can be used to create garments with the need for days of design work, and on our roads, we are now being monitored 24/7 by AI cameras.
The good news is that there does appear to be a little bit of a pushback, as Microsoft are seeing with the amount of people leaving the Widows 11 platform due to the mass of AI infiltration, and even Amazon are now requesting publishers to declare if any AI has been used in the creation of the book. Amazon over the last couple of years has been flooded with AI generated low quality books, and it has decided now to take a stand against them.
The thing that concerns us the most, is that whilst people all flock to AI, and schools depend on it more and more, the tech world expansion is becoming an environmental hazard, and as naturist who support the natural world, we are concerned over the huge amount of pressure being placed on communities by the new sprawling data centres that are springing up.
These things suck away the water supply using more water in one day for the purpose of cooling than a whole town uses in a week. Where they appear, there are water supply issue for the towns as the data centres get priority, and the same goes for power, especially in the UK and USA. These data centres put a huge strain on the power supply grid. Manchester is currently being marked as the next Silicone Valley of the UK, and there are plans to strip green land and create a new super hub for tech companies that will feature several large data centres. The average person has no idea of the infrastructure that goes into creating and running AI apps, and once these things are built, they are there forever.
We have recently been following Denmark, which is working a new bill that will give people copyright over their own faces and voices, so they can control how people use it. It will be interesting to see if they are successful because it could have implications across most of Europe, which we hope may lead to the UK following suit.
Danes Could Get Copyright to Their Own Image Under AI Bill | TIME
The US has passed a “Take it Down” bill which demands the deep fakes are taken down within 48hours of being reported, which is a small step in the right direction, the issue is, with the internet currently being flooded, one must wonder if it is too little too late.
Currently within Naturism, we feel AI should be flagged as a major concern for images, and we do applaud what we feel is a very sensible approach by ANW to protect naturists images on the site. We need a more sensible approach and it is a relief to see measures being taken to avoid harms and concerns. Our daughter like a lot of teenagers is a Blackpink fan, and just last week we saw a scandal where Jennie one of the members had images of her topless posted to social media which were AI generated. At first it caused a huge stir and upset a lot of fans who thought they were real as the quality was so high, but it has now been confirmed they are fakes, but this once again highlights the dangers if AI is misused.
AI had its place, for a time it had its balance, but in recent months, it feels like the genie has been let out of the bottle, as large firms push the limits of it, and now we feel that a lot of people will be in very real danger of being erased under the wave of fake material that is being made available every minute. We do feel Anna and Steve are right to point out that real true naturist stay away from sites that fill their pages with AI deep fakes, and hopefully enough of us will stay off those sites and make the owners see that their fake is the reason their site has lost traffic. Voting with our feet appears to be all we can do to support real, natural naturism these days.
Thanks for that RnR. It feels to me that there is no way AI will not be misused. The internet and all this new technology is almost guaranteed to attract those that will abuse it. In the right hands all these things are useful tools, but most hands have other things they want to do. I remember when I got my first computer reading that 90% of all computer use is about porn, and it put me off using computers. I didn't mind the idea that porn existed on top shelves in newsagents but I hated the idea that it was on a computer sitting in my flat and could be found with the flick of a button. Things have just become worse since that time (around 30 years ago). My children have to worry about influencing and social media that just didn't exist when I bought my first computer, and now it is on mobiles and everyone has it all the time!
Going back to the website Anna referred to with the fake photoreal videos selling the site. When we first came across it I couldn't understand, knowing naturism, how in the world this new-ish website had young people willing to make videos from all over the world to sell the site. The INF in its 70's would struggle to get such help on a world wide level. It was that that made me question the reality, it just seemed so unlikely. So we watched a video and it looked almost real but had tell-tale fake aspects. We checked a couple more and they all showed these traces, and we then did AI checkers to make sure and they came back as definite AI created videos. It is just so wrong.
It frustrates me that we have always worked passionately to keep ANW as true to naturism, reality, and genuine behaviour as possible. We want it to not just be a wonderful example of naturism but a working example of how the internet could be used. Then you see a website like this taking the exact opposite approach, basically scamming people with fakery, and I hate the fact that they get away with such behaviour at the expense of naturism, and profit from doing it. Naturism and naturists should be treated better than that.
Just this week we have seen in the news an item regarding the misuse of AI in adverts. This time about fake videos being used for fitness products/workouts where they make false claims about weightloss and muscle growth by using photoreal AI to make it seem their customers are having miraculous transformations. The laws demand that AI Ads must not mislead by inaccuracy, ambiguity, or exaggeration. Personally I believe that photofreal AI adverts should not exist at all when when something is created using AI for an adverts it should state it on the screen while showing that image.
Going back to the naturist website that is creating videos that it claims are members from all over the world, this is misleading on so many levels, basically creating a false claim. If you have, for example, a video from a woman in Japan saying she is part of the website and finds the website brilliant and positive, then surely this should be a genuine member and not a video made by the owner. To then repeat this with men and women from many other countries making similar claims with other AI people created by the owner has to be considered as an inaccurate and misleading claim. It would be wrong for an advert to say that 8 out of 10 women found a moisturiser made them look younger if the claim was false, so having non-existent people from all over the globe claiming they are part of a website that they love must be considered just as wrong.
But let us not imagine it is just one naturist website making such misleading claims with fake images either stolen or AI. A quick scroll around the internet and social media finds several misrepresented naturist experiences. There is one event organiser who uses image after image of young couples bright shiny media ideas of beauty who you can tell from the image quality and look of the photographs are nothing to do with the experiences in question. Are these people real at all? At times it is hard to tell, some may be just stock images taken from the internet, but this still promotes and idea that these people have took part in the relevant events. Is it right to create an illusion that an experience is attended by people who are not there? And possibly don't exist at all.
It is a big part of why we do not allow photoreal images on ANW and allow people to only share photographs that they have taken of themsleves and real people they know. It would be very easy for people to trawl the internet filling their profiles with those seen as "beautiful" in media terms but what value would that offer. Fake profiles, fake reality, fake ratios, statistics and facts. We could allow the community to appear populated by people who are not part of ANW. We could allow a greater level of voyeuristic attraction to bring people into ANW. We could use lies to sell ANW. But it would be wrong and ultimately upsetting to genuine people who join and damaging to naturism too. For it is wrong that many websites use fake or stolen images that pander to the medias belief in what makes people attractive and who should be allowed to be seen naked.
Which also opens up another question. Some websites employ professional models to pretend they are couples, individuals or families visiting a venue. This is quite a common practise in "clothed" holiday venues. Making out that the people visiting tick the media ideas of beauty. Should naturist venues part of a life choice that makes great claims about body confidence and body awareness and body equality pander to such traditionally tacky ways of making their venue appear more appealing and attractive?
I would love to read your thoughts on these various points.
