Earlier quoted context omitted.
You wouldn't even need to be clever. Use a bunch of stock photos mixed in with the target photo, use a Co-pilot-level GAN to "sort" the bodily features of this photo in a way that would suit your liking and - voila!- "It's an algorithmic choice. It can't be helped". That or anime-ification. But none of this would be needed if people respected freedom of speech. No person should be obligated to abstain from composing…
Well, I guess legality would depend on intent?
Even if a "malicious" intent were relevant to the production or distribution of deepnudes being considered a crime (which I am convinced is not a crime under any circumstances), judges and lawmakers have historically shied away from arguments of intent in the past under the argument that it's too difficult and time consuming. Present laws regarding "revenge" porn , for example, are assessed under strict liability and don't require any proof of any actual revenge plot being involved. There was a case in Illinois [1] in which the defendant was trying to prove her ex-boyfriend's infidelity by distributing photos he had carelessly synchronized to her iCloud account. In doing so she was tried with distribution of non-consensual pornography without any consideration for intent. Her legal team appealed on 1st amendement grounds where the Illinois law did not apply strict scrutiny standard required for rulings that curtail free speech on the supposed basis of serving a compelling government interest. The appeals were eventually filed all the way to the Supreme Court but the case was not taken up.
If a deepnude ban were to happen, I don't expect the arguments and legal standards under which such a ban is judged to be any different. That's what I find troubling.