Understanding AI-generated sexual content, nudification apps and deepfakes in schools
AI tools are becoming more and more common in young people’s lives. Research shared in a 2026 UNICEF brief found that children are more than three times as likely to use AI than their parents or caregivers.
With AI tools increasingly prevalent in young people’s lives, it is key school staff have the understanding to help students navigate the online world safely.
This article explores deepfakes and synthetic sexual content, including what it is and what to do if a student makes a disclosure to you at school.
What is synthetic sexual content?
Synthetic sexual content, often referred to as a 'deepfake', involves the use of technology to alter an image or video, replacing a person's face or voice with another's.
While the terms are often used interchangeably, a deepfake is just one type of synthetic sexual content.
Synthetic sexual content also includes completely AI-generated content – that is, imagery that is 100% AI-generated and doesn’t use an existing image of a person.
In this article, however, we’re looking at synthetic sexual content based on real images.
These images are created when offenders exploit AI technology to create fake images of children, using a benign photograph of them. This means the victim may have never shared an explicit image – and it may be another child who is creating it, such as a peer at school.
A UNICEF, ECPAT and INTERPOL study spanning 11 countries makes the scale of the problem clear: at least 1.2 million children disclosed having had their images manipulated into sexually explicit deepfakes in the past year.
Here, we’ve recapped common types of synthetic sexual content that involve real images of young people.
Deepfakes
Deepfakes are photos or videos that have been generated or manipulated by AI to mimic a person's appearance or voice.
While the term ‘deepfake’ is often conflated with synthetic sexual content, deepfakes are just one type of synthetic content.
Not all deepfakes are sexual in nature. They can have several impacts:
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Demeaning: deepfakes can falsely depict someone in harmful or humiliating scenarios, such as sexual activity. They are often used to bully, extort money or compel victims to share more explicit material.
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Defrauding: by misrepresenting someone's identity, deepfakes can be used in fake advertisements, romance scams, or fraudulent schemes.
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Disinforming: deepfakes can spread false information online, influencing public opinion on critical societal or political issues, such as elections, war, religion or health.
Nudification apps
Another way images can be altered is with ‘nudification’ apps, which are apps that use AI to alter benign photos of people to make them appear naked.
This means anyone can take an image of a child from their social media account – or photos a parent, school or anyone else has posted – and alter it to appear as a nude image.
And adults are not exempt from this risk – there are also cases of images of teachers being manipulated in this way.
The harm of deepfakes and nudification apps
According to UNICEF, up to two thirds of children in some of the countries they studied were worried about AI being used to create fake sexual images or videos.
However, they point out that the level of concern varied between countries, highlighting the importance of increased awareness – as well as stronger prevention and protection measures.
It's important to note that the technology has quickly become so sophisticated that it is often hard to tell if the image is fake.
As such, while fabricated images might seem different to ‘real’ nude or sexual images, they are just as harmful as the sharing of explicit imagery a student has taken themselves.
As UNICEF puts it:
Sexualised images of children generated or manipulated using AI tools are child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Deepfake abuse is abuse, and there is nothing fake about the harm it causes.
CSAM is any depiction of the sexual abuse or exploitation of a child. While legislation varies by region, CSAM is illegal in most countries. In some places, this includes AI-generated CSAM.
For example, the European Parliament has added a new provision to the EU AI Act, forbidding the generation of CSAM in all EU countries. The ban comes into place in December 2026. AI-generated CSAM is also illegal in the UK.
Fabricated images are often used to demean and bully victims, or even for blackmail. According to the Internet Watch Foundation’s chief technology officer, some victims are targets of sextortion, where someone blackmails the victim and threatens to publish the AI-generated material unless they receive financial payment – or real explicit images.
What to do if a student makes a disclosure about synthetic sexual imagery
Our Head of Safeguarding, Shezleen Salaam, advised in Tes Magazine that if a student discloses to you that someone has made or shared synthetic sexual imagery of them, you should report it to your safeguarding lead immediately.
She advises you shouldn’t view, share or in any way copy (e.g. save or print) the image – or ask the child to share or download it – as this is illegal. However, you should also not ask them to delete the image, as it is evidence.
If the child shows you the image before you can ask them not to, she states that you should report this to your safeguarding lead.
It is your safeguarding lead’s responsibility to ask for further information and approach other individuals who might be involved, so you shouldn’t do this. Your safeguarding lead is also responsible for escalating the case to police and any other necessary bodies in your region.
Similarly, it is not your responsibility to share information with other members of staff, students or the student’s parents.
Importantly, she states you shouldn’t say anything that blames or shames the student who has made the disclosure, and make sure to explain you will need to report the disclosure to the safeguarding lead, who can help.
Help for children who have had images shared online
There are services to help remove explicit images of children (AI-generated or otherwise) from the internet. However, coverage often varies by country or region.
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In the UK, Report Remove: the Internet Watch Foundation and Childline's tool to report and remove harmful images
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In the US, Take it Down: the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s tool to assist in stopping the online sharing of images across participating platforms
StopNCII.org, operated by the UK's Revenge Porn Helpline, has a Global Network of Partners, for help wherever you are.
The Revenge Porn Helpline also provides a list of organisations that provide help for people outside the UK. They also recommend making a report to the police.
Keep students safer with total safeguarding
It’s essential that all school staff members understand their role in safeguarding students and feel able to do it with confidence.
Seeing the full picture is key to identifying potential risks early, addressing concerns quickly and empowering staff to ensure the wellbeing of every child.
Our total safeguarding solution is designed to support every stage of the safeguarding process for a fully connected, end-to-end approach where all students are safe at school.
Explore how our total safeguarding solution can help you ensure compliance and nurture proactive safeguarding at your school or trust.
Last updated 20 October 2026
Originally published 12 May 2025
