Over Half of U.S. Teens Use AI Nudification Tools to Create Sexualized Images, Study Reveals

Widespread Use of AI Nudification Among Teens Uncovered

More than half of American teenagers have used AI to create fake nude images of themselves or others, according to groundbreaking research published in the journal PLOS One1

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. Chad Steel, a digital forensics researcher at George Mason University, surveyed 557 English-speaking U.S. teens ages 13 through 17 in January 2025, revealing that 55.3 percent had created at least one sexualized image using AI-powered nudification apps3

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. The study reframes AI nudification as a common part of teen digital behavior rather than a rare or fringe misuse, with 54.4 percent reporting they had received such images1

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Non-Consensual Image Creation Affects More Than a Third

The research exposed alarming rates of victimization, with 36.3 percent of surveyed teens reporting that someone had made a sexualized AI image of them without permission2

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. Another 33.2 percent said someone had shared one of those images, turning a private violation into a social event1

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. The gap between participation and harm proved smaller than many adults might expect, highlighting how quickly creation extends into routine sharing among peers. Unlike traditional image generators that build scenes from prompts, AI tools for image generation start with a real person's picture, lowering the effort needed to make a sexualized image1

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. Once a real face anchors the image, embarrassment, coercion, and rumor spread become harder to dismiss as fantasy.

Teen Girls Use Nudification Apps at Similar Rates as Boys

The findings surprised Steel, who noted that males typically show stronger signals in online sexual endeavors2

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. While male participants reported higher rates of creating and distributing sexualized images both consensually and non-consensually, roughly 1 in 6 teen girls and boys used nudification tools frequently to see how they looked2

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. About the same share of teen girls shared such imagery once or twice with someone else, tracking close to the overall pattern and undercutting the idea that only boys engage1

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. Steel suspects the popularity of "try it on" clothing and makeup visualization tools among girls builds familiarity with the same type of engagement as nudification apps, coupled with male coercion for sexually explicit imagery2

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How AI Nudification Differs from Traditional Teen Sexting

Earlier teen sexting research provides context for how far the behavior has moved. A 2018 review of 39 studies put youth sexting at 14.8 percent for sending and 27.4 percent for receiving1

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. Now the image can be generated from a prompt or edited from a real photo, which lowers effort and muddies responsibility. "Teens are no longer just digital natives but AI-natives. 'Nudification' and GenAI apps are their new 'sexting', only with more challenging issues surrounding consent," Steel explained1

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. The critical difference lies in consent and privacy—traditional sexting requires a willing participant, while anyone with a photo and access to these apps can create a fake nude image without knowledge or permission3

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Age Offers No Protection as Behavior Spreads Across Demographics

The results showed that 13-year-olds and 17-year-olds reported similar levels of use and victimization, suggesting age offered no clear protection inside the survey1

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. Across race, age, and most other categories, the behavior looked broadly distributed rather than packed into one obvious subgroup. Schools could read that finding as a case for earlier lessons on consent and privacy and image sharing, before middle-school habits harden1

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. Britain's communications regulator released a 2025 report showing that half of children ages eight through 17 had used AI tools, indicating familiarity with AI no longer begins in late adolescence1

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Psychological Impact on Victims and Legal Implications

Victims of this kind of abuse experience consequences similar to those of other forms of child sexual exploitation material, including a sense of dehumanization and lasting disruption to their lives3

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. Dr. Linda Charmaraman, director of the Youth, Media, & Wellbeing Research Lab at Wellesley College, noted that teens are in a delicate developmental period as they form their identities and seek social connection and acceptance2

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. Federal law already reaches farther than many teenagers probably realize—under law, obscene sexual images involving minors can be illegal even when no real child exists1

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. The Internet Watch Foundation's 2023 report said 92 percent of the sexual abuse imagery involving children it identified and helped remove was self-generated, though AI did not create the urge to make or trade intimate images but made editing, faking, and redistribution easier1

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What This Means for Child Protection and Future Policy

The survey's nationally representative sample indicates it reached diverse households, though only English-speaking U.S. teens ages 13 through 17 were surveyed, and parents had to consent before participation1

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. Steel said he would like to see his results replicated among a much larger sample of teens2

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. The findings arrive as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushes to release an "adult version" of ChatGPT, while Elon Musk has advocated allowing Grok to generate R-rated content3

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. Schools, parents, and lawmakers face the harder question of how to deter harm without pretending the behavior is rare, making earlier education and strong digital consent frameworks essential for youth wellbeing1

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