Scots mum 'disgusted' at AI TikTok video of daughter telling story of her own death

The mum of a woman who was pushed to her death says she’s “disgusted” by a TikTok account using AI to animate her daughter to tell the story of her killing.

Jacqueline Gallacher told STV News she was “horrified” by the video of her daughter, Charmaine O’Donnell, who was killed after being pushed off Helensburgh pier.

The TikTok account has used the images of dozens of women killed in brutal crimes across the country.

Charmaine O'Donnell died four years ago at the age of 25 after being pushed from a pier in Helensburgh by Jacob Foster. — Charmaine O’Donnell died four years ago at the age of 25 after being pushed from a pier in Helensburgh by Jacob Foster. Facebook

Charmaine’s family have called for stricter regulations on social media and say the stress of trying to get the video taken down has compounded their grief.

Jacqueline told STV News: “Somebody had sent me it and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

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“I commented on the page and said to them, ‘This is my daughter, why are you using our image, and you’re talking a whole load of rubbish’.

“They’re disturbing families that have been through a lot of grief.

“We don’t need to be reminded of it; we know what happened to Charmaine. I just find their whole page disgusting.”

After commenting on the video and reporting it to TikTok, Jacqueline was blocked by the creator and was initially told by the social media platform that it didn’t violate their community guidelines.

Jacqueline Gallacher told STV News she was 'horrified' when she saw the video. — Jacqueline Gallacher told STV News she was ‘horrified’ when she saw the video. STV News

“I just thought what an actual joke,” she said.

“They’re still there, so I don’t know what else they’ve been posting because now I’m blocked from the person’s page.

“I actually don’t think the people that make these things care, to be perfectly honest. I think they just think, ‘Oh, that’s social media? Deal with it’.

“Why should families have to deal with it because it’s social media?”

The deepfake of Charmaine is one of dozens of AI-generated videos on this TikTok page, all impersonating and telling the stories of victims who died as a result of crime.

Many of these videos use the hashtag #truecrime, with some racking up thousands of views, while the page itself has more than 11,000 followers.

Victim Support Scotland, a charity which supports victims of violent crime, said it has already helped another family remove a video of their loved one from the page.

Debbie Adams, director for external affairs and development at the charity, said: “It’s absolutely horrific.

“That’s an image of a real person, there’s a real family looking at that and that’s real trauma that’s been being added to that family’s lives, all for the sake of social media, for entertainment, for clicks and presumably for monetisation.

“The very fact that people are getting in touch with us about this shows that it is increasing. This kind of material needs to be criminalised. The creation of it should be criminalised as should the sharing.”

In addition to tougher legislation, the charity would like to see social media companies take more responsibility.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, some families have actually supported the use of AI within the justice system as a means of giving victims a voice.

Earlier this year, news reports emerged in the US after artificial intelligence was used for the first time to deliver an impact statement in court.

But it has raised questions among experts in AI ethics.

Professor Shannon Vallor from the University of Edinburgh said: “I really think that it’s a very slippery slope to us losing control over our own identities and our own voice.

“And even family who love us and care deeply about us can misunderstand us and not know what we truly want.

“So I think that there will be, I think, a movement towards getting people to articulate clearly while they are alive the ways in which they’re willing to have their persona be used after death.

“I think it will be something that people might put in a will or some other kind of framing of their wishes so that it can be clear what is permitted and what is in effect an ethical undermining of our own self-determination.”

The UK Government said under the Online Safety Act, platforms must remove illegal content, including where it is AI-generated and added that Ofcom can enforce tough fines for those that do not follow the law.

After being approached by STV News, the TikTok account responsible for the deepfake of Charmaine has now been removed.

It is understood that TikTok’s Community Guidelines prohibit the use of AI-generated content deemed harmful on its platform.

The platform also requires users to label AI-generated or significantly edited content that features realistic-looking scenes or people, in order to help users easily distinguish between fact and fiction.

But for Jacqueline, the damage has already been done.

She said: “My daughter is not here to tell her story, so I don’t understand why somebody would do that.

“It’s difficult when you lose anybody but especially when it’s your child because you’re not supposed to lose your child, are you? I just miss her.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: “AI must be a force for good – never a tool to exploit or harm, especially families who have already suffered a devastating loss.

“Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must remove illegal content including where it is AI-generated. Ofcom can enforce tough fines for those that do not follow the law.”