Over the past decade, AI has sprinted from niche research projects to ubiquitous inclusion in seemingly every product. AI Companies frequently releasing new more powerful models. Image generation systems have gone from crude attempts to synthesize photorealistic faces to generating full high quality scenes, and recently we've seen the addition of realistic video and audio.

The use of “nudification” apps to fabricate nudes to demand real imagery or money is becoming more prevalent. A target can become a victim having done nothing. Even so, victims experience shame, self-harm and lifelong digital footprints. These new technologies allow offenders to "scale up" their victimization against more targets. AI tools that create stunning art are now being weaponised to produce synthetic child-sexual-abuse material, run large-scale sextortion scams, and anonymise trafficking networks.

But innovation cuts both ways. Law enforcement has successfully used new AI tools and technologies to locate missing children in hours, not months. AI promises to offer the first realistic attempts to scale up law enforcement efforts. With AI systems able to review massive datasets, making connections that would be near impossible to do manually.

All of this has rapid development has lead to policy gaps, like jurisdictions where fully synthetic CSAM remains a grey area. And has lead to a need for proactive safeguards for schools, parents and platforms: default watermarking and AI-literacy curricula. Also needed are government and law enforcement guidelines.

The worlds youth, the demographic most at risk, will likely be quickest to master AI for creativity, study and social life. Their fluency is an opportunity—if we empower them with awareness, ethical norms and resilient ecosystems, they can be the strongest line of defence in an era where every prompt, photo and plugin can either protect or imperil a child.