EU progressing ban on AI ‘nudification’ tools

By Cillian Sherlock, Press Association

Artificial intelligence “nudification” tools that can generate child sexual abuse material and explicit images of adults without their consent are set to be banned in the EU.

European Parliament and European Council negotiators agreed on Thursday to ban such AI systems, which will need to be formally adopted before it can enter into law.

It is envisaged this will take place before early August, and include images, video, and audio.

The ban would apply to placing AI systems on the EU market with the purpose of creating such content or without reasonable safety measures.

Companies will have until December 2nd to bring their systems in line.

It comes as part of a wider agreement on AI tools.

Irish MEP Michael McNamara, who is co-rapporteur for the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee, said: “We secured a ban on nudification applications, one of our key demands.

“We fought for it because non-consensual intimate imagery is a systemic harm being industrialised by AI and in which the overwhelming majority of victims are women and girls.”

McNamara said it will be the first time such a ban has been enshrined in EU AI law.

“This deal delivers real protections for EU citizens and I am proud of what we have achieved. The European Parliament had a chance to act for women and children and we took it.”