This isn’t a future problem. It’s happening right now.
The FBI has been receiving reports from victims — including minors — whose real photos and videos were taken and altered using AI into explicit content. That content then gets posted to social media or porn sites to harass the person or extort them. It’s called deepfake sextortion, and the FBI has publicly warned about it because it’s becoming more common as the technology gets easier to use.
Here’s what makes this especially unsettling: the original photo doesn’t have to be explicit. Someone can take a totally normal picture of you — from your Instagram, your school yearbook, anywhere — and use AI to put your face on someone else’s body or generate something that looks real but never happened.
The same goes for your voice. AI voice cloning tools can mimic how you sound using just a short audio clip. That fake version of your voice could be used to say things you never said — in a phone call, a recording, whatever someone wants to create.
Using your image or voice without your consent isn’t just creepy — it may be illegal depending on where you live. Laws around deepfakes vary by state, but legal experts note this kind of conduct can fall under defamation and invasion of privacy in many places. And AI-generated child sexual abuse material is explicitly illegal under federal law — it doesn’t matter if it’s “fake” or generated rather than filmed. The law treats it the same.
So what can you actually do? You can’t fully prevent someone from finding a photo of you online — but you can limit what’s out there. Think about what you post publicly. Lock down accounts where you can. And if this happens to you, report it. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) takes these reports seriously. You’re not overreacting by reaching out.