Bold NJ teen makes Time top 100 in AI for fight against deepfakes

💯 Sophomore at Westfield High School makes Time's AI list

💯 Boys who made fake sexually explicit photos of her faced no charges

💯 Teen's family says White House will make "exciting" announcement Friday

WESTFIELD — A New Jersey high school student who is the victim of deepfake pornography is now one of the most influential people in artificial intelligence, according to Time.

Francesca Mani is a 15-year-old sophomore at Westfield High School. Last year, her male classmates used AI software to create sexually explicit images of her and other girls in school.

None of the boys were charged with a crime.

Despite her young age, Mani is working across the country with lawmakers, school boards, and tech companies to advocate for change.

"What happened to me at 14 could happen to anyone," Mani said earlier this year.

Last week, Mani was named to the 2024 TIME100 AI List of the World’s Most Influential People in Artificial Intelligence.

Mani said to the iconic magazine that she and her classmates had no protection. Other victims reached out after she began her work as an anti-deepfake activist.

“There were so many girls from different states, different countries. And we all had three things in common: the lack of AI school policies, the lack of laws, and the disregard of consent," Mani said to Time.

Among her projects, Mani is on Gov. Phil Murphy's Commission to Study Effects of Social Media on Adolescence. Mani and her mother, Dorota, said to New Jersey 101.5 that they want to help develop meaningful solutions at the state level.

Mani's family says the White House will make AI announcement

According to a statement from Dorota and Francesca Mani, they've been invited to the White House by the Bidens to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday.

"It is a significant milestone in the fight for safety and justice for women across the country, but unfortunately not done yet," they said to New Jersey 101.5.

Mani said to expect "exciting news" regarding AI from the White House on Friday.

RELATED: AI-generated deepfakes: Lawsuit seeks justice for NJ teen victim

Summit in Washington D.C. focuses on AI in schools

Mani is also working with U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., to organize an AI summit in the nation's capital this November.

The summit will focus on convincing school boards to update their districts' AI policies so that future teen victims of deepfakes aren't left to fend for themselves.

"Each case of AI misuse will have its own complexities, and that’s where variety of avenues need to be available for victims, like school protection as well as strong legislation," said Mani.

Federal legislation against deepfake pornography

Cruz and Klobuchar are both sponsors of the TAKE IT DOWN Act. The bipartisan bill unveiled in June aims to protect victims of deepfake revenge porn.

In July, the U.S. Senate voted by unanimous consent to pass the DEFIANCE Act. The bill gives federal civil recourse to victims of nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfakes.

U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J. 7th District, also introduced the Preventing Deepfakes of Intimate Images Act alongside U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., in May 2023. The bill has since stalled in the House.

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