AI emerges as a new weapon of online abuse: Ukrainian children targeted with AI-generated sexual content – study finds

More than 3% of Ukrainian teenagers have been personally targeted with sexual content created using artificial intelligence, according to new research by Proinsight Lab.

The findings were presented by Olha Ovchar, PhD, director of Proinsight Lab social and marketing research agency, who noted a growing prevalence of AI technology use among adolescents.

“We found that at least half of the children we surveyed regularly use AI tools independently,” Ovchar said. “When we examined age differences, it became clear that older teens, those between 14 and 17, are significantly more likely to engage with these technologies.”

As part of the study, researchers also asked children whether they had ever personally been exposed to sexually explicit content generated by AI.

“The numbers may not seem large at first glance,3.5% of children reported direct experience, but when extrapolated to the broader population of teenagers, the scale becomes deeply concerning,” Ovchar said.

She emphasized that older adolescents are disproportionately affected.

“Older teens are twice as likely to encounter this kind of abuse compared to younger teens, with nearly 5% of them reporting personal exposure,” she explained.

Ovchar outlined the motives behind the use of AI-generated content by perpetrators, which include harassment, intimidation, and blackmail.

“Primarily, the goal is to humiliate the child, to cause them distress. Blackmail is also a frequent motive, children are being extorted for money, or pressured into meeting in person to be coerced into doing something against their will,” she said.

One of the most alarming findings, according to Ovchar, is the perpetrators’ close proximity to the victims.

“It’s particularly troubling that at least half of those committing these acts are people the children know offline,” she noted. “And what’s even more disturbing is that in at least half of these cases, the blackmailers are peers, other teenagers who are shaming, bullying, and extorting their fellow teens.”

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