
Maine police division caught utilizing AI to physician “drug bust” photograph
They denied it at first, then posted an apology.
The Westbrook Police Division (WPD) in Maine needed to apologize for utilizing generative AI to change a photograph of things seized in a drug bust. They first denied the usage of AI when referred to as out, then later deleted the unique publish and their preliminary response and admitted to utilizing ChatGPT.
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The incident introduced up fears of what potential future AI-assisted policing may appear like. This fumble isn’t precisely inspiring confidence in cops’ means to deal with the know-how.
Westbrook, Maine police division busted for utilizing AI
In line with the native ABC affiliate, the WPD posted the altered photograph to their Fb web page on Sunday, June 29. On the next Tuesday, they printed a follow-up message responding to a number of calls they obtained accusing them of making the picture with AI.
Among the packaging on what the division displayed was blurry and in one other language, making it look to some just like the form of gibberish ChatGPT tends to give you when tasked with producing writing. The lettering on different gadgets, nonetheless, couldn’t be accounted for.
The division initially denied altering the picture in any respect.
“We need to set the report straight — that is NOT an AI-generated photograph,” they stated. “What you see is what was seized by officers in the course of the course of the drug arrests. Is the packaging bizarre and appear like gibberish or a unique language? Sure. However that’s legitimately what was positioned and seized by officers.”
“We guarantee you that Westbrook PD just isn’t and would by no means generate an AI photograph to attempt to depict proof that was seized.”
Admission and apology
Whereas your entire photograph could not have been dreamed up by AI, the WPD later deleted this response together with the unique publish and issued an apology. The follow-up admitted than an officer had plugged the actual photograph into ChatGPT as a way to add the division’s badge on the wall.
They then claimed that, in some way, ChatGPT made a bunch of different modifications by itself.
“Unbeknownst to anybody, when the app added the patch, it altered the packaging and among the different attributes on the {photograph}. None of us caught it or realized it,” they claimed. “We apologize for this oversight. It was by no means our intent to change the picture of the proof.”
The AI not solely modified the lettering on some packaging, it eliminated stickers, a rubber band, and altered the looks of each different merchandise within the photograph. This included lettering clearly written in English within the unique.
Because the story unfold to X, these already crucial of both police or AI jumped on it.

Well-liked consumer @CantEverDie warned that “cops already lie however now they’ll be capable of fully fabricate proof,” including, “we have to closely regulate generative ai.”
“I really feel like even essentially the most optimistic AI lovers may agree that banning the police from utilizing generative AI is perhaps a good suggestion if we need to stop some actually dodgy sh*t from occurring,” stated @KindHeartedHunk.

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