Warnings for explicit deepfakes, 'image-based abuse' amid rise of AI technologyPBy Pablo ViñalesTopic:Social MediaThu 16 OctThursday 16 OctoberThu 16 Oct 2025 at 7:39pmThe warning comes amid a police investigation into the circulation of digitally altered explicit images using the faces of female students from a Sydney school.(AAP: Mick Tsikas)In short:A senior researcher has warned "99 per cent" of victims of online abuse are women.It comes as detectives look into reports that digitally altered explicit images using the faces of female students from a Sydney high school were circulated online.What's next?Police are continuing to investigate after parents reported the incident to Eastwood Police Station on Wednesday night.A senior academic has warned a Sydney school caught up in a police investigation over digitally altered explicit images of its female students is just "another shocking iteration" of gendered violence.It comes as police are looking intoclaims the girls were targeted by fellow students who manipulated the images and shared them online, the ABC understands.More than a dozen parents then reported to Eastwood Police Station on Wednesday night after a male student who was sent the images notified his school.Police sources have told the ABC they were investigating a report that the images were altered using artificial intelligence technology.'Hundreds if not thousands of cases in Australia'Raffaele Ciriello, a senior lecturer in information systems at the University of Sydney, said this case was just one of many across Australia with the rise of AI technology."I'm both shocked and not surprised to be honest because this is not the first time this is happening,"he said."There are hundreds if not thousands of documented cases in Australia alone and many more abroad."University of Sydney academic Rafaele Ciriello.(ABC News)Dr Ciriello's research focuses on compassionate digital innovation and he said Australia's legislation has some of the strongest protections against AI in the world.The tools, which are widely being used across society and the business sector, can be covered under laws from the early 20thCentury regarding impersonating someone, he said.The targets of when the technology is used for nefarious purposes however are mostly women, Dr Ciriello noted."The research is actually pretty clear that at least 95 to 99 per cent of targets are women."It fits the pattern, it's been going on for a long time and it's the latest shocking iteration of it."There are however at least half a dozen similar cases where teenage girls have been targeted en-masse, not just one or two but basically an entire cohort," he said."They often do that out of something silly, they're not really thinking or they're just seeking sexual gratification but it can be more sinister than that … it's a continuation of gendered violence."Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said offenders could face more than a decade in jail.(ABC News: Matt Roberts)The NSW Department of Education requested the ABC not identify the Sydney school at the centre of this week's claims.Federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said those caught and convicted of producing deep fake images of children could face up to 15 years in prison."The Albanese government is committed to protecting children from image-based abuse," Ms Rowland said."The criminal code deals with all forms of real and artificial child abuse material, which includes offences for producing child abuse material (whether real or electronically generated) or making child abuse material available for viewing, copying or downloading."