A disturbing app has been developed which uses artificial intelligence and algorithms to produce fake nude images of women.
The app, called DeepNude, removes all clothing from any uploaded image of a woman - sparking fears it could be used to blackmail unsuspecting victims with fake revenge porn threats.
Since the app came to light, it has been taken offline, claiming it 'cannot cope' with the volume of interest.
The anonymous developers said they would be back within days and just needed 'to fix some bugs and catch our breath'.
In the free version of the app, the output images are partially covered with a large watermark.
In a paid version, which costs $50, the watermark is removed, but a stamp that says 'FAKE' is placed in the upper-left corner.
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DeepNude's website calls itself 'an Offline automated software that transforms photos, creating fake nude'. It has been taken down since it received publicity
It is a downloadable offline app which works on Windows and Linux.
It is believed the software is based on pix2pix, an open-source algorithm developed by University of California, Berkeley researchers in 2017.
Pix2pix uses generative adversarial networks (GANs), which work by training an algorithm on a huge dataset of images.
A picture is inputted to the software and a nude version is then generated at the touch of a button.
US magazine Vice tested the app on dozens of photos and got the most convincing results on high resolution images from Sports Illustrated issues.
Supermodel Tyra Banks' iconic Sports Illustrated snap is one of the images used as an example of the images used by the publication.
Others images depict fake 'nudes' of Kim Kardashian, singer Taylor Swift and Wonderwoman star Gal Gadot.
The app is not capable of producing nude images of men and, when attempted
