Madeleine West has revealed the terrifying ‘new reality’ of living with easy access to AI imagery.
The Neighbours alum, 44, took to Instagram on Sunday to outline the shocking ease with which she was able to create a ‘deepfake’ nude of herself.
A deepfake is an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said.
West shared an image of herself fully clothed, alongside the fake image of herself in the same pose but apparently completely nude.
‘TRIGGER WARNING: this is disturbing, but it’s also the new reality,’ began the former soap star’s caption.
Madeleine West has revealed the terrifying ‘new reality’ of living with easy access to AI imagery. Pictured left with the fake image on right
She continued: ‘Yesterday, as an experiment, I processed a photo I’d just taken on a generative AI app. The image to the right is the result, blurred out of respect for viewers.
‘This image was created as a “sample”. I didn’t need to sign up, log in or prove my age. No details. Nothing.
‘This… is… terrifying.’
West then said she wouldn’t reveal the name of the app used ‘because I refuse to give people ideas’.
However, she added ‘AI is here to stay and we need to educate ourselves and our kids on how to stay safe in this disturbing new world.’
The Neighbours alum, 44, took to Instagram on Sunday to outline the shocking ease with which she was able to create a ‘deepfake’ nude of herself
The shock statement comes after Madeleine bravely detailed how she confronted her paedophile neighbour more than 30 years after his sickening sexual abuse.
Peter Vincent White, now aged in his seventies, received a 15-year sentence for his cruel abuse of seven young victims aged between four and 14.
His life came crashing down when Madeleine came knocking at his door in July 2022 while wearing a secret recording device.
The recording was crucial in prosecuting White, and was shared publicly for the first time in a 60 Minutes episode that aired earlier this year.
In the audio, Madeleine could be heard exchanging pleasantries with White and his wife, who is profoundly deaf, before confronting him about the abuse.
Madeleine West smiled outside the Taj Mahal as she headed on an Indian retreat after bravely detailing how she confronted the paedophile who abused her
She was left shocked when White said he could not remember committing any of the crimes – only to then beg her for forgiveness with four damning words: ‘I’m very, very sorry.’
‘I don’t understand,’ he was heard saying in the recording.
‘I’m not quite sure what you’re asking me. I am so sorry. I don’t remember doing anything like that. I am sorry. Please, please forgive me.
‘If… if I did, I… I don’t remember. I’m very, very sorry if I did… it’s been washed from my mind.’
At one point, West could be heard telling her abuser his apology ‘meant a lot’.
The trip comes after Madeleine bravely detailed how she confronted her paedophile neighbour more than 30 years after his sickening sexual abuse
However, in reality the actress said she wanted to ‘claw his eyes out’ when he asked to be forgiven for his crimes.
‘At the time, you’re in acting mode and you go, “Of course,”‘ West said.
‘What else am I going to say? Punch him in the face? Kick his teeth in? I felt like doing that. I wanted to claw his eyes out.
‘Forgive? Give you words to make you feel better so you can go back to your life, and your happy, healthy family and your international travel.
‘Meanwhile, I’m in the deepest, darkest hole I’ve ever been in my life – and you want forgiveness?’
West was abused by the married father-of-two between the ages of four and 10 in his home in Woodend, 70km north-west of Melbourne.
She said the popular plumber’s home was a ‘magnet for children’ and he used his swimming pool, sandpit and VHS player to lure them inside.
Peter Vincent White (pictured), now aged in his seventies, received a 15-year sentence for his cruel abuse of seven young victims aged between four and 14
He abused seven children aged between four and 14 in the front room of his home and in a caravan parked on the driveway between 1977 and 1988.
She required surgery after one incident left her with serious physical injuries.
West, whose childhood name was Melanie Ann Weston, shared the abuse with her parents who she said ‘didn’t know what to do’.
She went to the police in 2017 – decades after the abuse had occurred. Her childhood friend Amanda Lee separately contacted police two years later.
Their testimonies helped police build a case against the paedophile, whose ‘brazen’ offending shocked even the most hardened sex crime officers.
‘It was just abhorrent, disgusting, horrific, calculated, intentional offending,’ investigator Scott Tuddenham told 60 Minutes.
At a Victoria County Court plea hearing last year, West demanded White look her in the eyes while she read out her victim statement.
His life came crashing down when Madeleine came knocking at his door in July 2022 while wearing a secret recording device. The recording was crucial in prosecuting White
White pleaded guilty to 33 charges of child sexual abuse against the seven victims including sexual penetration of a child aged under 10 and gross indecency.
He was sentenced last December to 15 years in prison, but will be eligible for release on parole in nine years, by which time he will be 82 years old.
After the sentencing, Madeleine celebrated with other victims, saying the ruling ‘took 40 years to be delivered but now it’s here’.
For support, contact National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service on 1800 211 028.
