Millions of People Are Using Abusive AI ‘Nudify’ Bots on Telegram
Bots that “remove clothes” from images have run rampant on the messaging app, allowing people to create nonconsensual deepfake images even as lawmakers and tech companies try to crack down.
In early 2020, deepfake expert Henry Ajder uncovered one of the first Telegram bots built to “undress” photos of women using artificial intelligence. At the time, Ajder recalls, the bot had been used to generate more than 100,000 explicit photos—including those of children—and its development marked a “watershed” moment for the horrors deepfakes could create. Since then, deepfakes have become more prevalent, more damaging, and easier to produce.