AI-Facilitated Abuse & Misogyny: A Feminist Response To Non-Consensual Intimate Image Deepfakes

The creation of non-consensual intimate images utilizing AI deepfake technology has been demonstrated to overwhelmingly target women. The harms of non-consensual intimate image deepfakes are similar to other forms of misogynistic abuse, including intimate image abuse and online objectification. This project seeks to contextualize this phenomenon within feminist accounts of misogyny and its role in regulating women's behavior. In particular, this project highlights that the accessibility of this technology has lowered the threshold of abuse, despite the individual woman's preventive measures. Furthermore, this project argues that the dissemination of non-consensual intimate image deepfakes is a morally problematic situation because it predictably undermines key dimensions of human flourishing, particularly self-acceptance, autonomy, and positive relations. Lastly, this project aims to offer a preliminary multi-level approach (legal and institutional, regulatory, and personal) to address the issue of non-consensual intimate image deepfakes and the online misogynistic culture that has been conducive to it.