As far as I understand; it’s not the tools used that makes this illegal, but the realism/accuracy of the final product regardless of how it was produced.

If you were to have a high proficiency with manual Photoshop and produced similar quality fakes, you’d be committing the same crime(s)

creating child sex abuse images

and

offenses against their victims’ moral integrity

The thing is, AI tools are becoming more and more accessible to teens. Time, effort, and skill are no longer roadblocks to creating these images; which leaves very very little in an irresponsible teenagers way…