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ATHENE researchers have found that AI image generators unintentionally produce images of minors
In a recent study, ATHENE researchers at Fraunhofer SIT have demonstrated that widely used AI image generators produce a significant number of sexualised images of minors, despite explicit instructions to depict adults. As even the unintentional possession of such images can be a criminal offence in Germany, this finding poses a serious legal risk to users.
For the study, the researchers generated 400,000 synthetic erotic images using six widely used image generators, with all text prompts explicitly requesting adult subjects. Nevertheless, all six models generated images featuring individuals classified as minors; the proportion of problematic material amounted to as much as 36 per cent. The researchers recommend avoiding terms such as ‘teenager’ and explicitly using ‘child’ or ‘minor’ as negative descriptors.
The study was first presented at the international conference IEEE Workshop on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV 2026) and is freely available at:
Further information can be found in the Fraunhofer SIT press release (in German)
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