Washington State Lottery's AI app aims to generate nude images of customers
Washington State Lottery’s experiment with generative artificial intelligence came to an abrupt end after its new advertising app proactively created a nude photo of a customer.
The lottery shut down its "Test Drive and Win" app after a month due to the offensive image.
As part of the promotion, the lottery asked customers to take or upload selfies of themselves, which the app then used to generate images of the user in exotic locations as if they had won the jackpot.
Pornographic deepfakes were not part of the deal, however, and a 50-year-old mother from Turnbull, Washington, was shocked to find her head resting on her nearly naked body.
Artificial intelligence has gone crazy
The woman, who identified herself as Meghan, called local radio station KTTH to complain about the app and called for the "person responsible" to be fired.
"Our tax dollars are used to pay for this!" she told the station, ignoring the question about the lottery.
Meghan said she asked the app to depict her fantasy vacation swimming with sharks. Instead, she saw a photo of her head pressed against a woman with exposed breasts.
Wearing nothing but floral bikini bottoms, the woman sat on a bed that looked like she was in an aquarium, with goldfish swimming by. The image features the Washington Lottery logo.
While this may be some people's idea of a dream vacation, it's not Meghan's.
"I was completely shocked. It was disturbing, to say the least," she explained.
"strict parameters"
The Washington Lottery said in a statement that it took swift action and shut down the app after Meghan called KTTH.
"Prior to launch, we worked closely with the AI platform developers to establish strict parameters for image creation," the lottery said. “We are aware that individual users of the AI platform have allegedly provided images that do not comply with these guidelines.
"The campaign was launched over a month ago and has generated thousands of images, all of which met the required guidelines. Regardless, one alleged user was one too many and we have therefore taken down the site," the lottery added.
This isn't the first time a company trying to jump on the generative AI bandwagon has been shamed for objectionable content in its technology, with even tech giants on the ropes.
Last year, news broke that Meta’s AI-powered sticker generator for the Facebook Messenger app was creating shocking content centered around children’s cartoon characters. These include Mickey Mouse with an AK-47 and Elmo from Sesame Street with a bloody machete.
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Source: www.casino.org
