New Jersey teenager makes it into TIME's Top 100 AI researchers in the fight against deep fakes

💯 Westfield High School sophomore makes Time Magazine's AI list

💯 Boys who took fake, sexually explicit photos of her were not charged

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

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

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

None of the boys were charged with any crime.

Despite her young age, Mani is working with lawmakers, school boards and technology companies across the country 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 told the cult magazine that she and her classmates had no protection. Other victims came forward 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 for consent,” Mani told Time.

The family of an unnamed Westfield High School student filed a lawsuit in January against the 15-year-old boy accused of creating the images and sharing them on Snapchat.

Mani's family says White House will make AI announcement

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

“It is an important milestone in the fight for safety and justice for women across the country, but unfortunately it is not yet achieved,” they told New Jersey 101.5.

Mani said people can expect “exciting news” on AI from the White House on Friday.

RELATED: AI-generated deepfakes: Lawsuit seeks justice for juvenile victim in New Jersey

Summit in Washington DC focuses on AI in schools

Mani is also working with U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (Republican, Texas) and Amy Klobuchar (Democrat, Minnesota) 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 are not left to fend for themselves. Each case

“Every case of AI abuse is complex and victims must have a variety of options, such as protecting schools and strong laws,” Mani said.

Federal law against deepfake pornography

Cruz and Klobuchar are both supporters of the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a bipartisan bill introduced in June to protect victims of deepfake revenge porn.

In July, the U.S. Senate unanimously voted for the DEFIANCE Act. The law provides federal civil redress to victims of non-consensual, sexually explicit deepfakes.

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

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom