The silent threat: Technology facilitated sexual violence, AI deepfakes and the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence act

Sammanfattning

With artificial intelligence (AI) technology constantly evolving and changing, policy makers struggle to keep up with it through the creation of adequate rules and regulations. The European Union (EU) has made the first attempt at AI regulation, outlining the need for respect of democracy, human rights and calling for transparency in AI usage. However, discussions about AI often overlook the feminist concern of increased technology facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) perpetrated by AI, more specifically done by deepfakes. This thesis will explore that EU AI act and see in what capacity it encompasses TFSV perpetrated by AI deepfakes. It explores what exactly AI is, its different types and how it connects to TFSV. The theoretical framework explores both Normative power Europe, highlighting internal norms the EU has, as well as feminism in Europe. It then ends with a feminist critique on Normative power Europe and highlights how feminist perspectives are not always present in policymaking in the EU. The EU Act is explained through its contents and previous research done on it, highlighting the critiques. The chosen methodology is single policy analysis combined with a what's the problem represented to be approach. The focus is on silences and what problems are not addressed through the act. The results show that the EU AI act does not in any way encompass TFSV perpetrated by AI deepfakes, or TFSV at all.