New AI apps are showing deepfake videos of people kissing without consent

Meta and TikTok have been displaying thousands of advertisements for AI applications that generate synthetic videos of people kissing without consent, raising serious ethical concerns about the normalization of deepfake technology.

Current situation: Social media platforms have been running numerous advertisements for AI apps that can create artificial videos of any two people kissing, based solely on uploaded photos.

• Meta has shown over 2,500 ads across Instagram and Facebook, with approximately 1,000 currently active
• TikTok has displayed around 1,000 ads to millions of European users
• Many ads feature celebrities like Scarlett Johansson and Emma Watson, while others promote the ability to “kiss your ex” or “kiss your crush”

Platform responses: The two major social media platforms have taken divergent approaches to addressing these controversial advertisements.

• Meta maintains that these ads do not violate their policies, as they don’t contain explicit sexual content
• TikTok removed the ads after being contacted, citing their policy requiring consent from individuals featured in advertisements
• Both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store continue to host these applications, which have millions of downloads

Broader implications: The proliferation of these apps represents a concerning trend in the normalization of non-consensual deepfake content.

• The apps are similar to “AI nudifier” tools that create non-consensual pornographic content
• Many of the companies behind these apps are based outside the US, in countries like UAE, Italy, and China
• The technology is being marketed as harmless entertainment, despite serious privacy and consent concerns

Expert perspectives: Industry specialists warn about the potential dangers of normalizing such technology.

• Haley McNamara from the National Center for Sexual Exploitation emphasizes that content doesn’t need to be explicit to be exploitative
• Experts warn these apps could serve as a gateway to more graphic forms of image-based abuse
• AI analysts like Alice Siregar describe encountering these ads as “incredibly creepy” and “deeply unethical”

Related concerns: The emergence of AI kissing apps parallels other troubling developments in AI-generated content.

• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has received over 7,000 reports of AI-generated child exploitation material
• There have been multiple instances of high school students creating deepfake nude imagery of classmates
• Viral deepfake videos, such as Taylor Swift hugging Kim Jong Un, have garnered millions of views

Looking ahead: The mainstreaming of deepfake technology through seemingly innocent applications poses significant ethical and societal challenges that current regulatory frameworks appear ill-equipped to address. The continued availability of these apps, despite their clear potential for misuse, suggests a growing disconnect between technological capabilities and appropriate safeguards for personal privacy and consent.