‘Disturbing incident’: Lake Zurich students created nude AI images of classmates, district says

Police are investigating reports that Lake Zurich High School students used artificial intelligence to generate pornographic images of classmates, district officials said.

According to a statement from Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95, the school’s administration first learned about the situation in late February and sent a report to the Lake Zurich Police Department.

In a post on the district’s website and an email to parents, Superintendent Kelley Gallt shared news of what she called the “disturbing incident” with a “heavy heart and deep concern for our student body.”

“The situation reported to us involves the misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate explicit, pornographic images using the likeness of other adolescents,” she wrote. “We understand the profound impact this has on the individuals involved, their families, and our learning community.

“Please know that we are taking this matter with the utmost seriousness, as such actions are a fundamental violation of the values we work to instill in our students every day,” Gallt said.

Lake Zurich police said in a statement on Friday that they were contacted by school officials “regarding a report of potential transmission of lewd messages and images between students.

“This matter involves juveniles and remains an active and ongoing investigation,” police said. “Due to the involvement of minors, no additional information is available at this time.”

The district provided a brief timeline, although specific information was limited regarding the “school-based investigation and/or outcomes for any students involved.”

According to the timeline, high school administration officials received a report on Feb. 26 regarding the “possible use” of artificial intelligence to generate pornographic images, “which reportedly included the likenesses of other LZHS students.”

They reported the incident to village police and on Feb. 26 and 27, administrators and a police detective contacted the families of all students, “thought to be involved based on initial reports,” including students reportedly involved in the possession, generation or distribution of content, as well as students whose images were reportedly included.

School officials then collected additional information and issued “school-based consequences based on data available at the time.”

According to the statement, information turned over to the police department cannot be made available to the district, as it is now part of an active criminal investigation. No members of school or district staff directly viewed any of the reported content related to the investigation, it said.

Other families may receive communication from the police department regarding their student’s involvement in the incident, according to the statement.

Gallt also warned of likely media attention, “unfortunately not in a positive light” due to the nature of the incident.

Growing issue

It’s not the first time the use of AI for the generation of pornographic material has made news in Lake County. Last year, Ricardo Russell, a former Deerfield High School janitor, was charged with having an extensive collection of child pornography, including artificially generated images, according to police reports.

Illinois has relatively new laws in place regarding the use of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, which clarifies that the state’s child pornography laws apply to images and videos created by AI. The legislation bars the use of AI to create child pornography, making it a felony to be caught with artificially created images.

Previously, Sara Avalos of the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office warned of the rise of the use of artificial intelligence to generate child pornography.

Venkatramanan Siva Subrahmanian, a professor of computer science at Northwestern University with a focus on the intersection of AI and security problems, said such use of AI is a growing concern as the technology becomes more ubiquitous.

The issue goes back years, Subrahmanian said, recalling apps that stirred controversy with their ability to take images of clothed people and create nude images of them. While not necessarily accurate, the content was “very realistic.” Today, in the era of realistic AI image generators, such tools are more available than ever.

But what has been “more tricky,” Subrahmanian said, has been putting restrictions on the companies that can create these deep fakes, and on sexual content created of fully fictional people.