A researcher at the University of Florida, Kevin Butler, studied how so-called undressing apps work - online platforms that use artificial intelligence (AI) to turn photos of clothed people into convincing images without clothes. Such material is called synthetic non-consensual intimate imagery: synthetic because it is created by AI, non-consensual because the person did not give consent.
Butler is a professor and chair of the Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) at the University of Florida. Together with graduate students and a colleague from Georgetown University, he prepared a paper on the resources and participants that sustain the ecosystem for creating such images. The article is available on the arXiv preprint server and will be presented in November at the ACM 2026 Conference on Computer and Communications Security in The Hague.
The authors analyzed posts on 4chan and Reddit from June 9 to November 21, 2025. First they manually studied a random sample of 200 posts from each platform and compiled a set of categories describing participants, their actions and the resources used. They then applied this set to all the data.
It turned out that technically skilled users gather more often on anonymous imageboards such as 4chan, while less experienced ones gather on Reddit. In addition, there is a shadow infrastructure that adapts to blocks: guides and base models for configuring AI are distributed via the Telegram and Session messengers.
A special role is played by educators - people who help newcomers become active creators of such images. They hold consultations, select resources and give further instructions. According to the researchers, 56.3% of such educators facilitated the transition of less experienced users into more advanced ones.
The researchers note a responsibility gap: many users know about the prohibitions but are not worried about the consequences. Co-author Bernardo Medeiros says the openness of the participants prompted the study. The work began shortly after the TAKE IT DOWN Act was passed, but the 4chan community did not stop publishing images.
In the United States, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, passed in 2025, criminalized the creation and distribution of such material and simplified its removal after publication. However, according to Butler, real or synthetic images can be used for threats of exposure - so-called sextortion. This can prevent a partner from leaving, reporting abuse or seeking custody of children because of fear for their reputation.
The authors propose possible points of intervention. One is targeted action on educators to reduce their influence. Another is policy on large public platforms where user-trained image generation models are stored: companies could introduce prohibitive rules whose effect is easy to measure.
The researchers emphasize ethical limitations: they collected data from Reddit and 4chan but did not interact with members of illegal communities and did not view or save images. The data was anonymized. The authors hope the work will help identify gaps in regulation and protect users' privacy.