AI deepfake nudes of 13‑year‑old spark outrage after victim is expelled

This case is a grim example of how cheap generative tools are colliding with institutions that are completely unprepared. A handful of middle‑schoolers were able to generate convincing fake nudes of classmates, weaponize them through ephemeral apps, and upend a girl’s life before adults could even confirm the images existed. The fact that the victim, not the perpetrators, initially faced the harshest school punishment shows how poorly our disciplinary systems map onto AI‑enabled harms.

For the AGI conversation, stories like this matter because they shift the focus from hypothetical existential risks to very real, very current social damage. We’re already living with systems that can, in a few clicks, create reputationally catastrophic content about any person with a social media profile. As models scale in fidelity and personalization, the floor for abuse keeps rising, even if we never reach sci‑fi superintelligence.

The deeper lesson is that “AI safety” cannot be left to model labs alone. School districts, law enforcement, platform providers and regulators need playbooks and accountability frameworks for AI‑mediated harassment—what counts as evidence, who is protected, and how quickly adults must act. If we can’t handle deepfakes among eighth‑graders, we’re nowhere near ready for the information‑warfare capabilities of more advanced systems.