Itasca Police continue to investigate a former high school student who they say is responsible for creating sexually explicit, deep fake photos of students and staff within the Itasca ISD. In the new era of AI and deep fakes, a North Texas School District is a new target. In a letter sent to I tasca ISD families on Monday, Superintendent Tonya Harris said in part, “we have been made aware that a former high school student took photographs of students and staff within Itasca ISD. These images were subsequently used in an Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform to create digitally altered, sexually explicit (nude) images.” “Just with one photo, you can re-create a deep fake,” Enrique Lara, CEO of LaraNet, Inc. a Houston-based technology company, told NBC 5. Lara says AI technology is growing at a faster clip than regulators can keep up. “It’s so bad at the end of the day, we don’t have control of that because the technology is growing so fast, and the government is not moving at the same speed, so we don’t have enough regulations to control that,” Lara said. Harris told ISD families that Itasca Police now have the suspect’s phone and are conducting a thorough forensic analysis. The former student is now in police custody. “Copy the URL, copy the screenshots and share with the government,” Lara said. Lara says victims of deep fakes can share them with the FBI. He tells parents to try to limit what their children post and educate them that anything they snap is subject to being manipulated. “Explain every photo, every video, even if the photo or video is innocent, can be transformed in a deep fake,” Lara said. Recently passed state and federal legislation expands protections for victims of deepfake pornography and requires social media and websites to remove the content. ...read more read less