Deepfakes Made of Cheesy Toast Shack Owner: Digital Abuse and Women's Safety in St Andrews
With the rise of AI also comes the rise of deepfakes, an issue which is predominantly targeting women in our society. While the dangers of AI are continuously debated, women’s concerns and safety are often forgotten. AI deepfakes have become a global phenomenon, infiltrating communities across the globe, including St Andrews.
On the 30th September, the owner of the Cheesy Toast Shack, Kate Carter-Larg, took to Instagram to speak up about AI deepfakes which have been circulating online without her consent. According to Police Scotland “deepfakes are fake images, videos or audio recordings that have been digitally created or edited. They sometimes show a real person doing or saying things that never actually happened.” Creating or sharing non-consensual intimate imagery can constitute a criminal offence. Such material is sometimes referred to as “revenge porn,” although the term does not capture every circumstance in which it is produced or distributed.
Carter-Larg described in detail on her social media the extent of the deep fakes, stating “that there are websites where people can click on a link to ‘strip me naked’” and to “‘f*** me’ using AI.” She shared on her Instagram that “the trauma that this has caused me over the last few weeks has been something I’ve never experienced or felt in my life.” Digital abuse has consequences beyond the online sphere, including psychological distress, reputational harm, and the restriction of victims’ freedom and participation in public life. Carter-Larg has described the emotional impact of the images, saying, “every time I’ve had to go into Dundee and Sam’s not with me; I feel stricken with anxiety. I felt like everywhere I went, I was getting laughed at and discussed.”
Carter-Larg also discussed her struggles in investigating the perpetrators, stating that “[the men in the group chats] aren’t willing to give me any information as they want to protect their ‘mates.’” Yet, she refuses to be blamed, reaffirming that “the shame should be on the men who are sharing it” and that “silence is complicity.”
According to the United Nations, 95 percent of online deepfakes are non-consensual pornographic images, and 99 percent of those targeted are women. Globally there have been numerous headlines about deepfake crimes over the last months.
The vice president of the feminist society of St Andrews, Elizabeth Blakeslee, voiced her concern for the student community. Blakeslee describes the consequences for victims as being “very harmful, very weaponising, sexually exploitative and defaming.” She highlights the potential threat they pose, as they can create “a lot of anxiety” for victims. Blakeslee also stated that AI tools being “put in the hands of the wrong person [means that] anyone [can] become a victim.”
Blakeslee noted that “there is definitely a discrepancy between how women and men view AI” since “sexism creates a bias towards women that can be enhanced by AI.” While she states that “most students our age have a developed understanding of AI, it is not talked about enough, about human rights and feminism, targeting students personally, and it needs to be more broadly discussed how AI is hurting people and their identity.” She describes that she has heard little discussion about deepfakes in a university context, and “the fact that we don’t hear about them more often is concerning.”
Blakeslee expressed concern for “women in St Andrews [since] like women anywhere and men anywhere [they] are at very high risk of AI images.” Elizabeth argues that “the University has a responsibility to protect its students from AI abuse and emphasise the issues of AI beyond academics” and should instate “a system that’s embedded within the community that prioritises students’ wellbeing with uses of AI beyond academics.” This means that the university should provide help and information about the risk of deepfakes to students and victims.
For example, there could be a “team in place that could track down where [a deepfake] would originate from,” and “these issues should also be on the AI policy sheet.” The University should “make the laws around AI very accessible and widely known, emphasising [that] there are consequences and punishments for using AI as a weapon to hurt someone’s integrity.” University societies can also act to protect students by “providing open spaces” and being “open to talk about these issues.” Elizabeth concludes that meaningful change in women’s safety “comes down to teaching and reforming systems to hold themselves and the people using them accountable,” and this responsibility ultimately lies in larger institutions and organisations.
Carter-Larg found support in the WRASAC (Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre) in Dundee. Carter-Larg stated that someone from WRASAC “reached out to me, with such kindness and love, reminding me that I’ve done nothing wrong, and this is illegal what is being done to me.”
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