For many women, the fear is no longer about what they post online; it’s what could be created without them. As generative artificial intelligence tools become more user-friendly and advanced, young women are confronting a new kind of threat: the possibility that their likeness can be manipulated, sexualized and shared online without their consent.
According to the New York Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, a deepfake is an image or recording that has been altered or manipulated to misrepresent someone doing or saying something that they never did. The agency also defines image-based abuse as the use of both AI-generated content and real images distributed without a person’s consent. While this may be dangerous for everyone, the impact is not evenly distributed. Research from Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security reveals that 96 percent of deepfakes are nonconsensual, and 99 percent of sexual deepfakes target women.
In the age of AI advancements, this exploitation has given young women new concerns, and that concern is not unfounded. In documented cases, deepfake technology has already been used to target individuals with explicit and harmful content. One journalist in India, reporting on the rape of a young girl, became the subject of a coordinated online attack that included the circulation of AI-generated pornography of her.
In schools, similar patterns are emerging. In one reported incident at a New Jersey high school in 2023, a student used an AI “nudification” tool to generate fake nude images of female classmates. With inadequate administrative response and growing tension among students in that situation, the incident feels even more urgent today, given how much more advanced AI tools have become.
Beyond statistics and headlines, many young women today are navigating a digital world where deepfakes are a constant threat. In speaking with Zora Por-Reinhardt and Nia James, both students at the University, a common fear emerged: the creation of nonconsensual, AI-generated nude images.
Por-Reinhardt, a senior studying Communications and Media Studies as well as the Op-Ed editor of the Pace Press, emphasized how rapidly advancing technology has intensified these risks, explaining, “It’s really scary, honestly. AI has advanced rapidly in the past year, and deepfaking is even more easily accessible by the average person with apps like SoraAI.”
In discussing the implications of AI deepfakes’ accelerated growth, Por-Reinhardt shared her worries of “life-altering consequences for adolescent girls.” Especially in school environments where rumors and images spread quickly, she believes that this type of technology actively works against women’s and children’s safety. As confusion around identifying AI grows, Por-Reinhardt stressed that there must be a more formal regulatory framework in place, such as standardized watermarks, that would help distinguish AI-generated images from real ones.
James, a senior preparing to enter the nonprofit public administration field, grounded her concerns in both personal frustration and broader inequities. While she acknowledged that AI can be useful in academic and professional settings, she questioned its use as a shortcut. She pointed to recent advertisements, including the Coca-Cola holiday advertisement in which they proudly embraced AI-generated storytelling.
By 2025, with 30 percent of ads being created using AI, James questioned what that meant for people who once relied on those roles. Considering designers, animators, and artists whose work is actively being replaced, she weighed the cost of the benefit. She emphasized that these decisions are often driven by cost-cutting, allowing large corporations to save money while displacing creative workers. She questioned, for audiences and employees alike, how we would maintain the value of art if AI became normalized as the method of producing the work.
To better understand the technology behind these threats, Penn State student Evan Weller, who studies AI and large language models, offered his perspective. “Deepfakes are blurring the lines between what’s real and what’s fake,” Weller said. “Even for someone trained to spot them, it can be impossible to tell sometimes.”
Weller explained that since AI is now used for everything from social media recommendations to GPS systems, it can be difficult to regulate. He went on to emphasize the broader consequences of synthetic media, including political deepfakes spreading misinformation and sexualized content targeting women and youth. “The impact these tools have on women and young people is serious and immediate,” he said.
While some laws now make non-consensual deepfakes illegal, enforcement is limited due to issues with protected expression, and public access to AI remains largely unrestricted. Weller stressed, “People who make deepfakes non-consensually should be prosecuted, and AI tools should be limited to research use.” Without action, he warned, AI will continue to evolve faster than society’s ability to protect those at risk.
