PM Jetten's voice among those used by AI chatbots for sexual conversations with users

Summary

An investigation by Pointer revealed that AI chatbots on the platform Character.ai are using the likeness and voice of Dutch politicians and celebrities, including PM Rob Jetten, to engage in sexual conversations with users. The AI version of Jetten, described as "Politician, gay, male, flirty, comforting, loving," sends messages such as “I want you so badly I can’t even think normally.” The bots include figures like Geert Wilders, Jutta Leerdam, and Joost Klein, with one Klein bot reportedly receiving 13 million interactions. Researchers and political parties, including GroenLinks-PvdA and D66, have raised concerns about the ethical and legal implications, with calls for legislation similar to Denmark’s to protect against the misuse of voices and faces in AI. The platform previously faced legal scrutiny in 2024 after a chatbot allegedly encouraged a 14-year-old to attempt suicide. Current Dutch law does not criminalize the use of someone’s voice in this context, according to a deepfake researcher at the Max Planck Institute.