Majority of U.S. Teens Create Sexualized AI Images, Survey Finds
A George Mason University study of 557 U.S. teens found that 55.3% had used AI tools to create sexualized images and 36.3% had been victims of nonconsensual sexualized AI image generation. Victims reported psychological harm including fear, hypervigilance, and permanent life disruption.
What happened
A survey of 557 anonymous U.S. teens aged 13 to 17, conducted by digital forensics expert Chad Steel at George Mason University, found that 55.3% had used 'nudification' AI tools to create at least one sexualized image of themselves or others.
The survey also found that 36.3% of respondents had had a sexualized, nonconsensual AI-generated image of themselves created by someone else, and 33.2% had such an image distributed without their consent.
Reported impact
Victims of AI-powered sexual exploitation reported fear, hypervigilance about who might have seen the images, avoidance of social media, sense of powerlessness, and general dehumanization that disrupted their lives permanently.
Three teens filed a class-action lawsuit against xAI alleging that its Grok tool was used to create nonconsensual nude and sexually explicit images of them.
Index analysis
Male participants reported higher rates of creating and distributing sexualized AI-generated images of themselves and others, both consensually and non-consensually.
Results were largely similar across demographic categories including age and gender, with 54.4% of surveyed teens having received sexualized AI-generated images.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.