It is becoming increasingly common for paedophiles to create images of celebrities as children using artificial intelligence (AI).

Images of a well-known singer reimagined as a child are being shared by predators, according to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).

According to the charity, images of child actors are also being manipulated to make them appear sexual on one dark web forum.

With the help of bespoke image generators, hundreds of images of real victims of child sexual abuse are now being produced.

It tries to raise awareness about the dangers of paedophiles using AI systems that can create images based on simple text instructions in its latest report on the growing problem.

Researchers have warned that these powerful image generation systems could be misused to generate illicit images since they entered the public domain.

There has been an alarming rise in despicable AI-generated images of children being sexually exploited by paedophiles, according to US Home Secretary Suella Braverman and US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

According to analysts, predators are taking single photos of well-known child abuse victims and recreating them in different sexual abuse settings.