Man Arrested For Posting AI-Generated Pornographic Videos Of Assam Woman Online

A man has been arrested in Assam's Tinsukia district for allegedly morphing photographs and creating AI-generated pornographic videos of a woman and circulating those on social media and also profiting from it, the police said on Sunday. 

The victim filed a complaint on Saturday stating that morphed images and videos were being used to defame her, said Dibrugarh Senior Superintendent of Police (in-charge) Sizal Agarwal.

The matter came to notice after the victim's purported image with an adult film actor surfaced, with claims that the Assam woman has joined the adult film industry in the US.

"The arrested accused, Pratim Bora, has used one image of the victim to generate several obscene content and pornographic material using various AI softwares. The victim and the accused have a past acquaintance, and due to some personal reasons, he resorted to doing this sort of crime. AI technology was put to full use and it was made to appear as if the victim had joined the pron industry, which turned out to be fake," said officer Agarwal.

The accused, a mechanical engineer, was arrested from Tinsukia on Saturday night, the police officer said. 

During investigation, all the photos and videos circulated on social media were found to be "purely generated using AI software", said the officer. 

The officer said that the crime, which initially started as a harassment tactic, continued when the accused began monetising it by way of a subscription he was providing for the social media page which had AI-generated pornographic images of the victim. 

"We have seized several electronic items, including two mobile phones, one hard disk, one laptop, one tablet, one pendrive, several simcards and because the accused also made this as a way of financial gain. He used to earn money from the subscription he was providing for this page which had AI generated pornographic content of the victim uploaded. So we have also seized his financial documents, including several credit and debit cards," said the officer. 

When the officer was asked about the money that the accused made using fake images, she said he earned Rs 10 lakh. 

"At this point, we have not found trace of anybody else involved but as the investigation progresses, there might be a possibility of other names coming up," said the officer when questioned about the involvement of others in the case. 

The officer also urged people to be careful while accessing online content and have a closer look before circulating any information they receive on social media.

"Initially, people might not have known that these images are morphed and AI-generated. Now that we have clarified, people should refrain from circulating or using these images and targeting the victim," the officer said.