Obscene Loophole: When AI Outpaces the Law

A federal appeals court just ruled that possessing AI-generated CSAM that doesn't depict an identifiable child may be protected under the First Amendment — and the legal reasoning behind it stretches back nearly 70 years. In this episode, Vick breaks down the Seventh Circuit's ruling in United States v. Andereg, tracing the full chain of precedent that led here: Roth v. United States (1957), Stanley v. Georgia (1969), New York v. Ferber (1982), Osborne v. Ohio (1990), Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002), and Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (2025).

This is a heavy, necessary conversation about where AI, obscenity law, and child protection collide — why courts are being forced to apply decades-old precedent to generative AI, why "no real child was harmed" doesn't settle the ethical question, and why synthetic CSAM still fuels real demand and real harm. Vick also explains the practical risk this creates for families: how AI models can turn public photos of real children into exploitative synthetic content, and why he continues to urge parents to stop posting images of their kids online.

Content warning: This episode discusses AI-generated CSAM, child exploitation law, and related explicit legal terminology. Listener discretion advised.

Topics covered: AI-generated CSAM legal precedent, First Amendment obscenity law, Seventh Circuit ruling, deepfake and synthetic media law, AI model guardrails, child safety online, Catholic ethics and AI regulation.