Jamie F
A camera that uses AI to create controversial deepfake nude images of the person it takes a photo of is making a stir online, as it takes just seconds to make each full-frontal picture.
The Nuca digital 3D printed camera was made by German artist Mathias Vef and designer Benedikt Groß. It uses a generative AI system based on the Stable Diffusion ‘text to image’ AI generator platform to make its deepfake nude images, using data from the ‘real’ photo of the person it’s capturing.
The Nuca camera could clearly send heads spinning in disgust over the ethical problems of a camera that takes deepfake photos. However, Vef and Groß have been quick to explain that the camera is just a prototype, designed as an art project to encourage discussions about generative AI ethics. There are no plans to ever release it as a purchasable product.
Still, based solely on the Nuca promotional materials at least, it would seem to work pretty effectively. The camera can take a photo of a person using its 37mm-wide wide angle lens. It then analyzes the photo using 45 identifiers including gender, age, ethnicity, expression and body shape. This data is used to create a text prompt for Stable Diffusion, then the resulting photo is blended with the person’s face in the ‘real’ photo along with their stance.
The results are nude images that seem, if not quite perfectly photo-realistic, like they could well depict something very close to what actually lies beneath the clothes of the subject.
Nuca’s makers said that the camera is only ever used with the full consent of the person whose image is being taken. This, they claim, “takes away the anonymity inherent to internet deepfakes and contrasts playfulness with this nightmarish trend”. They have also released promo videos for the Nuca art project on TikTok.
Deepfake nude and porn content is, indeed, considered a nightmarish problem that’s on the rise. Recently Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sued two men who allegedly created deepfake porn videos of her, in a case that could set a precedent for crackdowns on deepfake creation.
Laws around deepfake porn content have been toughened in various countries following floods of both celebrity and non-celebrity deepfakes being released online.
The Nuca camera creators said : “The project aims to provoke and question the current trajectory of generative AI in reproducing body images and deepfakes.”
“Nuca aims to ignite discussions on AI’s influence on beauty standards and the ethical implications of AI-generated imagery. These discussions are not only about the impact of non-consensual imagery, but also about revealing the distorted views of algorithmic bias that AI inherits, setting these perceptions in contrast to the user’s self-image,” the duo added.
You won’t be able to buy a Nuca any time soon, but you are clearly welcome to start extremely deep conversations about what it represents.
