Some concerns emerging with artificial intelligence are how it could
harm people through cyber bullying.
Experts say AI can be used to generate realistic images
of bullying victims in fake situations.
Plus, some may even use it against themselves as a
form of digital self harm.
Here to talk through some of that is Megan Butler.
She is a licensed professional counselor and the chief clinical
innovation officer for the app Lucero.
Megan, thank you for joining us.
We appreciate it.
Thanks so much for having me back.
Yeah, this can be a pretty tough topic, so I'm
really appreciative that you were here to walk us through
this.
But I want to start with that idea of self
cyber bullying.
What might lead someone to do that?
So sometimes we see someone's struggling and they don't have
a way to ask for help.
Sometimes people don't have their words or sometimes they don't
feel comfortable asking for help.
I work with a lot of kids and they feel
like I don't want to burden my parents.
I don't want to put this on other people.
And so they start experimenting with things like AI to
try to express their feelings.
And so we, we see this really as an outcry
and what's the impact that, you know, we mentioned there's
artificial intelligence that can generate all kinds of images in
different scenarios and situations.
What's the impact that those deep fakes can have on
someone personally?
So the impact is devastating.
I can tell you that they did some research on
deep fakes and really a lot of this is online
abuse.
OK, this is image based sexual abuse.
The majority of it, majority of deep fakes are actually
portraying women and girls in sexual situations.
And so the impact is that people feel a lot
of shame, pain, and can even be led to suicidal
thoughts.
And highlighting that in particular, you know, what is the
recommendation for someone experiencing a crisis or someone, you know,
experiencing a crisis?
So there's help and hope for suicide.
I always want people to know that if you're feeling
that way, please let someone know.
You can call 988.
That's our crisis text line.
It's it's there all the time.
And you can, you can let your parent know if
you're a child.
Hey, I'm, I'm having some really hard thoughts right now.
I shouldn't be alone right now.
Yeah.
Just highlight that number for us again, just to put
it out there.
988.
Yeah.
Very simple.
And it will connect with all kinds of resources for
people experiencing something like that.
Now you have suggested reframing how people can use these
kinds of skills in a different and better way.
What would that look like?
Yeah.
So when we look at people that are creating this
deep fakes, it can be used for harm, it can
be used for good.
That's just how technology is, right?
And so I always want to focus on kids strengths
and say, if you have this creativity, you have these
skills, you should really consider graphic design.
You you could consider cybersecurity.
There's lots of pathways where these skills could be really
helpful.
And so we've got to help kids channel those skills
into the right way, help them set the limit and
say, this is crossed the line, This is why consent
is important.
And then help them find, you know, an area where
their strengths can be used.
In your work as a professional counselor, I'm sure you've
seen all kinds of bullying kids students coming to you
with that.
But what is that like to be in that professional
seat and seeing this kind of new frontier in that
space?
What I've noticed is that there's a sense that this
is such a large problem, right?
Compared to just in person bullying, that feels like it
has a longer life.
And so people feel really out of control.
They feel overwhelmed.
There's a lot of shame, there's a lot of pain,
and people feel like my life's not worth living sometimes,
you know, if this is on the Internet, and I
always want them to know your life is worth living.
No matter what is on the Internet, no matter what
people have said about you, you can create a life
worth living.
Yeah.
Quickly, what is your suggestion for somebody who might experience
that?
Well, I mean, I helped create Lucero.
And so we have a self-care idea generator in there.
It's 24/7.
It's free in the App Store.
And so that's why we created that is to give
real time in the moment ideas to people that are
struggling with really hard thoughts.
So we, I mean, obviously digital apps are great.
And the other thing is just finding what works for
you, right?
Finding when you have a really big emotion, no matter
what it is, whether it's online bullying or whether it's
something that we see in the news, it's overwhelming.
We've got to find what works for us to feel
better in the moment.
All right, well, I think we'll leave the conversation there,
but we appreciate you coming in and talking more about
this.
Megan Butler, thank you again.
Thanks so much.
All right, everybody, we will be back after this break.
Stay with us.