Grok's digital fakes of real people are criminal assault

By Noah Feldman / Bloomberg Opinion

The horrifying episode in which Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot generated and posted millions of sexualized images of real people, including women and children, has a clear lesson: It should be illegal to use anyone’s photograph to create a fake image intended to depict that person.

Last summer, Congress passed the Take It Down Act, which prohibits posting deep fakes that depict people engaged in intimate sexual acts. Now Congress should expand the act to cover any misappropriation of a person’s likeness.

This can be accomplished in a manner consistent with the First Amendment. There is a long-standing common-law right of individuals to control the commercial use of their image and to prevent others from using it for gain. That right should provide a basis for outlawing the kind of image appropriation that occurred on Grok.

It will be necessary to have exceptions for political commentary or satire. But fake images should not count as newsworthy for First Amendment purposes. Moreover, the benefits of protecting people from the misappropriation of their images outweighs the risks of chilling the lawful publication of news images.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-groks-digital-fakes-of-real-people-are-criminal-assault/