Social media has given rise to an alarming trend where marketers and scammers create AI-generated influencers with Down Syndrome, promoting adult content on specific platforms.
404 Media Report Instagram has witnessed a troubling trend of using artificial intelligence to fabricate accounts that fetishize and monetize fictional personas with Down Syndrome. These profiles appropriate content from actual creators, employ AI to alter faces, and simulate appearances of Down Syndrome. AI-enhanced media is shared on Instagram, guiding viewers to adult content sites aimed at monetization.
The practice of appropriating content and swapping faces with AI-generated images has surged throughout the industry. Specialized software, marketing approaches, and influencers have emerged to sell courses that teach the creation of these counterfeit identities for swift cash through “AI Pimping.” However, by producing accounts for women with disabilities, including amputated limbs and Down Syndrome, the recent trends targeting specific niches and fetishes have deteriorated further.
One of the most prominent accounts involved in this phenomenon is “Maria depard”, who has amassed over 148,000 followers on Instagram. This account, alongside others with similar names and uniform videos, is dedicated to promoting adult content through the sexualization of AI-generated personas. Although the face swaps appear relatively realistic, a closer inspection reveals indicators of AI-generated imagery, such as an unnaturally smooth texture around the mouth and teeth, along with visual anomalies.
In contrast to authentic influencers with Down Syndrome who share inspirational or modeling content, these AI-generated accounts are solely focused on adult material. These accounts seldom reveal their AI origins, leading many followers to mistakenly believe they are interacting with real people. This misinformation extends to the adult content platforms they endorse, and very few include disclaimers about the use of AI.
The proliferation of such accounts has raised alarms regarding the fetishization and commercialization of individuals with disabilities. The insufficient regulation of content produced by Instagram’s AI has allowed this exploitative behavior to thrive, enabling rampant content theft that supports it.
As this trend expands, it poses a significant challenge for genuine Down Syndrome influencers advocating for awareness and understanding. They are now contending with AI-generated accounts that misappropriate and alter content, leading to increased bias and the misperception that all influencers with Down Syndrome are engaged in offering sexual services.
Please read more 404 media here.
Lucas Nolan is a journalist for Breitbart News, focusing on the issues of freedom of expression and online censorship.
