Teachers targeted in AI videos alleging misconduct

One of East London’s top schools has sought assistance from the police and an internationalcyber securityexpert to trace the person behind two TikTok accounts using artificial intelligence (AI) to target teachers. The account has published several videos mocking teachers, with some going as far as makingallegations of inappropriate behaviour and sexual advancesby some of the staff. Whoever is behind the account has brazenly challenged the school to “try harder” to identify them.

Stirling High Schoolon Wednesday confirmed it had formally laid a criminal complaint after two accounts onTikTokposted various edited videos of staff members, in various clips purporting misconduct. The school said their names and photographs were used without consent. The first video, created on February 3, is allegedly an AI-generated video using a photograph of one of the school staffers scripted to dance; it is captioned “Dance if you can’t keep your hands off grade 8s”.

In another video, the same staff member’s face, as well as the photo of another, is used depicting them as excited when the girls put on their Nike pants for practice. The page further features the faces of three other teachers, claiming they are “the worst teachers”. Though the account has three followers, each video has more than 1,000 views.

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Meanwhile, another account which appears to be the oldest, has 10 followers with an AI-generated video using the face of a male teacher. The video has more than 6,000 views, with a caption “dance or teach the class”. The teacher is made to dance.

Though the school refused to comment in detail on the matter, it said the teachers were deeply affected by the incident and asked for privacy. In a recent letter by the headmaster, Doug Prior, sent to parents, the school said the posts include discriminatory claims and content that violated staff privacy and dignity, as well as legislation such as the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

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