Sexualised AI image incident 'shocking and without excuse' says Armagh Royal School headmaster as he urges no speculation online
A school headmaster has described the circulation of sexualised artificial intelligence (AI) images “by and of pupils” as “shocking”.
Graham GW Montgomery, head of Royal School Armagh, a voluntary grammar based in the city, made the comments in a letter issued to parents this morning, adding that people should be “mindful that we are dealing with teenagers and that we should refrain from comment and speculation”.
He also said that earlier media reporting that the matter may involve dozens of girls appears to be incorrect; instead, he said the number affected appears to be in single figures.
When contacted, the school said it was unable to say the age range of the pupils involved.
Police have launched an investigation into the affair.
The PSNI said: “Police have received a report that AI-generated explicit images had been shared amongst pupils at a County Armagh school.
“An investigation is under way and local officers are also engaging with the appropriate school authorities and the parents/guardians of the pupils affected.”
In a statement to the press, headmaster Mr Montgomery said: “I can confirm that a matter involving some of our pupils was brought to our attention and referred to the appropriate authorities.
"We have robust policies and procedures in place and where concerns are raised, we seek and follow advice from educational and other statutory authorities and take all appropriate action as advised.
"We will continue to do that and the safety and well-being of all our pupils remains our highest priority.”
His letter to parents, dated this morning, stated that the matter revolves around “the creation and sharing of a number of AI manipulated sexualised images by and of pupils who attend our school”.
He said the matter came to light on the evening of Thursday, January 8, and the next day the matter was referred “to the appropriate authorities”, adding: “In the days following we believe we identified all those of whom images had been manipulated and those allegedly responsible.
"The actions reported to us are shocking and without excuse.
"I was surprised to see reference in yesterday’s print news to ‘potentially dozens of girls’ being affected.
"At this stage all the information available to us indicates that the number is in single figures.
"While that does not lessen the impact of what has happened for the girls at the centre of this, we hope it will contain any sense of panic among the wider school community.
"As you may have seen in the news, the matter is the focus of a police investigation, and it would, therefore, be wrong to share more details…
"This has been a particularly difficult time for the pupils of whom manipulated images were created and we want to continue to support them in the days ahead, particularly now that their ordeal has been brought into the glare of public attention.
"We would ask that all members of the school community be mindful that we are dealing with teenagers and that we should refrain from comment and speculation where possible, including on social media.”
The issue of explicit computer-generated images (sometimes called “deepfakes”) has been in the media spotlight in the last fortnight amid criticism that Grok – the AI tool embedded within X, formerly known as Twitter – allowed people to create such images of both adults and children.
Last week UK justice secretary David Lammy brought forward legislation to make it illegal to generate sexual “deepfake” images without consent.