It pointed out that, while young people might be motivated by curiosity rather than intent to cause harm, it was illegal in all circumstances under UK law to make, possess, or distribute such images, whether they are real or generated by AI.
This reminds me of a recent story from Germany.
A bunch of stundents got hold if actual naked pictures of another student and where sharing it around. A teacher got wind of and managed to get a copy from one of the students and reported it to the victims parents. They were quite thankful to the teacher and decided to report it to the police, where teacher was promptly charged with possession of child abuse material. She now faces a 1 year mandatory prison sentence, because there are no exceptions as well.