Acid attack survivor Katie Piper has spoken out after revealing that online trolls have been feeding her photographs into AI tools and instructing them to make her look "normal, perfect, beautiful".
She explained how individuals would upload an image of her into AI and request it to "make her normal, perfect, beautiful".
Piper's response to AI trolls
Katie told The Times: "Is what they did morally or ethically wrong? I don't know. Did it hurt me? No. Would it hurt someone else who didn't have 20 years of rebuilding confidence and self-esteem? Yes, I think it would."
The campaigner endured a terrifying assault when a former boyfriend orchestrated an attack that saw sulphuric acid hurled at her face in north London during March 2008. The incident left her with severe facial injuries and cost her sight in one eye.
Advocacy and personal life
Katie has since emerged as a prominent advocate for burns survivors, establishing her own charitable foundation, penning books and producing documentaries on the topic.
The activist, 42, is now happily married with two children after wedding carpenter Richard Sutton in 2015. She has acknowledged that her appearance became an "idiot filter" following the assault.
Katie said: "Because I would never attract a man who fall out of love with me because I've aged or gained weight, or because he meets a younger model - he just wouldn't fancy me in the first place," reports the Mirror.
Husband's supportive gesture
She also disclosed how her spouse stepped back when she collected her OBE, as he wasn't present in her life during the acid attack.
Katie added: "My husband wasn't around when the reason for my charity work took place, so he kindly stood down and said: 'I shouldn't be your plus-one. It should be your mum or your dad.' It was a really good thing to do with mum, to give her back something that was joyful."
Attack details and aftermath
Katie, who waived her right to anonymity to raise awareness, was brutally raped by Daniel Lynch soon after meeting him. He threatened to slice her with a razor and strangle her while also plunging a blade into her arms repeatedly.
Once he eventually freed her, she sought medical attention at hospital but concealed the true nature of her wounds as she feared him.
Mere days afterwards, Lynch enticed her to an internet café to view a message he had posted to her Facebook profile. This was a deception, as he had revealed her whereabouts to an accomplice, Stefan Sylvestre, who hurled sulphuric acid at her face.
Both men received life sentences.
Katie later said: "When the acid was thrown at me, it felt like I was burning in hell. It was an indescribable, unique, torturous pain."
Media career and recognition
Beyond her books and documentaries, Katie featured on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018, where, partnered with professional dancer Gorka Marquez, they became the third couple eliminated. She also joined Loose Women in 2021 and was awarded an OBE the following year.
