The Spiegel-article about AI-generated images: Generative KI und Kindesmissbrauch: »Das kann sich fast wie eine erneute Vergewaltigung anfühlen« - DER SPIEGEL (Generative AI and child sexual abuse: “It can almost feel like being raped again”).
It’s in German and behind a paywall, so not very accessible unfortunately. It should be okay to cite the relevant parts by von Heyden though (DeepL translation):
For Maximilian von Heyden of the prevention network “Kein Täter Werden” (Don’t Offend), on the other hand, clinical findings tend to suggest “that the use of this material can lead to an increase in risk in individual cases”. Von Heyden emphasizes that it is not possible to conduct conclusive research on this question for ethical reasons, but he considers it “rather unlikely” that AI-generated material represents a compensation option for offenders with corresponding tendencies.
[…] Von Heyden warns, for example, that the rise of technology could have a negative impact on the empathy of potential abusers: “Should AI-generated abuse be discussed and created in forums where the suffering of victims is not considered, downplayed, or even denied, this could also increase the risk.”
Basically, the closer to reality the events depicted in abuse depictions are and the more intensively people can put themselves in a scenario of a supposedly real act, the greater the risk that a real act will follow, he said. “For example, if video footage of a child in close proximity exists and an AI is trained to create abuse images based on it, this could increase the risk of an assault.”
German original
Für Maximilian von Heyden vom Präventionsnetzwerk »Kein Täter Werden« dagegen legen klinische Erkenntnisse eher nahe, »dass die Nutzung dieses Materials in Einzelfällen zu einer Risikosteigerung führen kann«. Eine abschließende Erforschung dieser Frage sei schon aus ethischen Gründen nicht möglich, betont von Heyden, aber er halte es für »eher unwahrscheinlich«, dass KI-generiertes Material eine Kompensationsmöglichkeit für Täter mit entsprechenden Neigungen darstelle.
[…] Von Heyden warnt etwa davor, dass der Aufschwung der Technik sich negativ auf die Empathie potenzieller Täterinnen und Täter auswirken könnte: »Sollte KI-generierter Missbrauch in Foren diskutiert und erstellt werden, in denen das Leiden der Opfer nicht berücksichtigt, heruntergespielt oder sogar in Abrede gestellt wird, könnte dies ebenfalls das Risiko erhöhen.«
Grundsätzlich gelte: Je realitätsnäher das dargestellte Geschehen in Missbrauchsdarstellungen sei und je intensiver sich Personen in ein Szenario einer vermeintlich realen Tat hineinversetzen können, desto größer sei die Gefahr, dass eine reale Tat folgt. »Sollte beispielsweise Videomaterial eines Kindes im nahen Umfeld existieren und eine KI darauf trainiert werden, darauf basierend Missbrauchsabbildungen zu erstellen, könnte dies das Risiko eines Übergriffs steigern.«
Btw, they also claimed that the effects of child sex dolls would be impossible to research ethically, which Prostasia has already disproven. Does not seem to impress them much though.
During the time when the child sex doll ban was campaigned for in Germany, this old interview with Prof. Klaus Beier by the media company RTL was often cited, especially the emphasized quote: Dreijährige Kindersexpuppen: Wer zur Hölle braucht das? (Three-year-old child sex dolls: Who the hell needs that?)
Translation of the relevant parts:
If you try to find at least one argument that could speak in favor of the production of child sex dolls, this one might come to mind: Under certain circumstances, they help to prevent sexual abuse of children, since pedophiles can then practice their preferences on dolls and not on ‘real children’. Prof. Klaus M. Beier, spokesman for the ‘Don’t offend’ network, however, sees things quite differently:
“There is a justified concern that the use of dolls could just loosen the behavioral control, because what happens is a moving closer to the desired reality: you see a child with whom you can live out the desired sexual contacts and who is ready for anything,” says the expert. And it comes even worse: “Incidentally, the behavioral sequences related to the child would be trained downright - in a real temptation situation, a possible implementation would then be easier.” Child sex dolls are therefore intended to encourage affected people to commit acts against helpless children even more instead of preventing them from doing so. They literally serve as a stepping stone into a sea of violence, pornography or abuse against children in reality.
Of course he cites no empirical evidence for his believes, as there is none. And yes, he literally does refer to a doll as “a child”, this is not a misinterpretation.
