Understanding AI-generated sexual content, nudification apps and deepfakes in schools
AI tools are becoming more and more common in young people’s lives. A found that 56% of children aged 8-17 have used AI for “learning, creativity and everyday tasks”, and 11% have used AI “as someone to talk to or ‘as a friend’”.
At the same time, (IWF) analysts confirmed they saw more AI-manipulated nude and sexual imagery of children reported in January-June 2026 than they did in the whole of 2025.
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 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.
Research from the makes the scale of the problem clear: they reported that approximately one in eight teenagers aged 13-17 have seen someone their age use AI to make sexual pictures or images of others.
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.
Not all deepfakes are sexual in nature. They can have several impacts:
-
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.
-
Defrauding: by misrepresenting someone's identity, deepfakes can be used in fake advertisements, romance scams, or fraudulent schemes.
-
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
The IWF’s tool, delivered in collaboration with Childline, enables children in the UK to confidentially report sexual images and videos of themselves and remove them from the internet.
The that the majority of reports of manipulated images to Report Remove in both 2025 and 2026 were “so severe that they passed the CSAM threshold”.
CSAM refers to child sexual abuse material, which is any depiction of the sexual abuse or exploitation of a child. All CSAM is illegal in the UK, including AI-generated CSAM.
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, and fabricated images are often used to demean and bully victims.
It's also important to note that the technology has quickly become so sophisticated that it is often hard to tell if the image is fake.
Furthermore, these images can even be used for blackmail. According to the , some victims who contacted Report Remove had been targets of sextortion, where someone blackmails the victim and threatens to publish the AI-generated material unless they receive financial payment or explicit images.
shared in October 2026 reflects an increase in reports of sexual extortion, with them processing more "sexual extortion-related reports" from January-June 2026 than in the whole of 2025 (this involves both real and synthetic images).
They also state that 95% of the sexual extortion-related reports confirmed so far in 2026 exclusively feature boys.
Legal standing of deepfakes and nudification apps
Under the , it is illegal to create a purported intimate image of another adult without their consent.
A ‘purported intimate image’ means any image which appears to be or include a photograph or film of a person, but is not a photograph or film of the person – and appears to show the person in an intimate state. This includes AI-generated imagery.
Similarly, under the , it is also illegal to make any indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of anyone under the age of 18.
Like a purported intimate image, a ‘pseudo-photograph’ includes AI-generated imagery and refers to an image that appears to be a photograph, whether made by computer-graphics or otherwise.
There are also calls to put a total ban on nudification apps, including from the , Dame Rachel de Souza.
What to do if a student makes a disclosure about synthetic sexual imagery
Our Head of Safeguarding, Shezleen Salaam, advised in Vlog 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 designated safeguarding lead (DSL) 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 DSL.
It is your DSL’s responsibility to ask for further information and approach other individuals who might be involved, so you shouldn’t do this. Your DSL is also responsible for escalating the case to police and children’s social care as necessary.
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 DSL, who can help.
Help for children who have had images shared online
-
: the Internet Watch Foundation and Childline's tool to report and remove harmful images
-
: part of the National Crime Agency, you can report an incident to CEOP where a child is being groomed or blackmailed online
-
: a guide to support you in reporting online harm of all kinds
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
