This is a wild story so buckle up. Back in January, it was reported a principal had been caught on tape making derogatory statements about Black and Jewish students and their families in his district. Obviously, that was shocking and an investigation rightly started.
Baltimore County Public Schools is investigating the principal at Pikesville High for alleged derogatory remarks about students and staff
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 17, 2024
A voice believed to be the principal can be heard ranting about Black students and Jewish families https://t.co/Nuxkgxwrte pic.twitter.com/Iv2yJvps6v
In a shocking turn of events, it was found a former employee had used AI to fake the principal's voice and set him up. This employee was bitter over being passed over for a job, apparently.
Dazhon Darien, 31, faces multiple charges, including stalking, theft, disruption of school operations, and retaliation against a witness, according to charging documents obtained by 11 News.
Police said the charges are connected to an investigation that started on Jan. 17 into a voice recording circulated on social media that was alleged to have been the voice of the school's principal, Eric Eiswert.
Police said the audio clip, which was an alleged race-based commentary on the school's students and teachers, was spread on social media. That led to the temporary removal of Eiswert from the school, as well as many hate-filled messages on social media and numerous calls to the school.
Police said Thursday afternoon that detectives have conclusive evidence based on a forensic analysis by the FBI that the recording was not authentic. Police said the analysis indicated the recording contained traces of AI-generated content. Detectives then sought an additional analysis by the University of California, Berkley, which arrived at the same findings as the FBI's analysis.
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Wow. This story went viral, but now police have arrested the former Athletic Director alleging he created this recording with AI to smear the principal in retaliation for not renewing his contract: https://t.co/Faohq1xH51 https://t.co/wDQdK1mjYc
— AG (@AGHamilton29) April 25, 2024
This is what experts mean when they talk about the dangers of artificial intelligence.
Geez that audio sounds authentic, at least in terms of the quality. The acoustics of the room, the muffled, seemingly clandestine position of the mic.
— LeftRightOut (@userIDtaken) April 25, 2024
The only thing that makes it sound sus are the words, they don't sound quite right, as in, who would talk like that?
That is the terrifying part. They are able to make it sound so real.
Long, long prison sentence if true.
— Chuck (@SilverBulletLLC) April 25, 2024
Yikes.
— Open Mike 🎙️🇺🇸🌯 (@mikeCAburritos) April 25, 2024
How can you trust anything these days with AI now in play
Trust but verify more than ever before.
Omg it is AI!! I couldn’t tell at first. First time I’ve ever been fooled too
— Ghillie (@earthling1748) April 25, 2024
Since they aren't showing his picture...here is the guy making the race hoax... pic.twitter.com/wDTqaRjl2L
— $8 Jon (@JonFromOregon) April 25, 2024
It's time he takes responsibility for the disharmony his allegations caused in his community and workplace. What a horrific hoax to carry out. Thank goodness it was discovered before this went any further.
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