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A Chinese international student in South Korea was sentenced to 18 months in prison Wednesday for creating more than 1,100 sexually explicit deepfakes using images of seven people, including colleagues in his university research lab.
The Seoul Northern District Court convicted the 30-year-old of charges including habitually producing manipulated sexual images and videos in violation of the Sexual Violence Punishment Act. The court also ordered him to complete 40 hours of a sex offender treatment program and barred him from working for five years at institutions serving children, teenagers or people with disabilities.
Over six months beginning in November, the student used artificial intelligence to superimpose the victims’ faces onto sexually explicit images and videos, producing 1,141 files, according to the court. Investigators also found that he had searched for ways to bypass safeguards built into Grok, a generative AI chatbot.
Judge Kwon So-young stated, "The defendant repeatedly edited, composited or otherwise manipulated images of victims who studied in the same university laboratory. Given the circumstances and nature of the offenses, his conduct was particularly serious and warrants severe punishment."
The defendant deposited 7 million won ($5,200) into each victim's account with the court in an effort to compensate them, but the victims refused to accept the money. The court considered in mitigation that he admitted all charges, showed remorse and had no previous criminal record. It also found no evidence that the manipulated content had been distributed.
Prosecutors had sought a three-year prison sentence, along with public disclosure of his personal information and mandatory sex offender treatment. However, the court declined to order the disclosure and notification of his personal information, stating that the prison sentence, sex offender registration, employment restrictions and treatment program were sufficient to reduce the risk of reoffending.