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Baltimore County Police Arrest Former Athletic Director for AI Deepfake Incident
Baltimore County Police made an arrest on Thursday of the former athletic director of Pikesville High School. The accusations against him were related to the use of an AI voice clone to impersonate the school’s principal, Eric Eiswert. This deceptive act led the public to believe that Principal Eiswert had made racist and antisemitic comments. The allegations were reported by The Baltimore Banner.
AI Voice Cloning and Deceptive Practices
The incident unfolded when Dazhon Darien was apprehended at a Baltimore airport while trying to board a flight to Houston with a firearm. Further investigation revealed that Darien had utilized an AI cloning tool to fake the voice of Principal Eiswert. The manipulated AI voice recording containing derogatory remarks about Black students and the Jewish community was widely circulated on social media.
Upon conducting a thorough investigation, Baltimore County Police confirmed that the recording was fraudulent. They called in a forensic analyst contracted with the FBI to scrutinize the recording, which revealed traces of AI-generated content. The deceptive deepfake caused public outrage, resulting in Principal Eiswert receiving a barrage of hateful messages and necessitating his temporary removal from the school.
Retaliation and Misconduct
Police authorities stated that the former athletic director orchestrated the AI recording as a retaliatory measure against Principal Eiswert. Prior to the viral dissemination of the recording, Eiswert had initiated an inquiry into Darien for suspected embezzlement of school funds. Allegedly, Darien had approved an unauthorized payment of $1,916 to the school’s JV basketball coach, who happened to be his roommate, circumventing established protocols. Darien tendered his resignation in early April, according to school documents.
It was disclosed that Darien was one of three teachers who received the incriminating audio clip a day before it went viral. Subsequently, another teacher disseminated the recording to students, media outlets, and the NAACP. Charging documents revealed that Darien exploited the school network to access OpenAI tools and employ language models extensively. Despite the widespread use of such AI tools, investigators managed to pinpoint Darien as the mastermind behind the deceitful voice recording.
The Menace of AI Deepfakes
The proliferation of AI-generated audio deepfakes poses a significant challenge in the realm of technology. The Federal Communications Commission took steps to prohibit deepfake robocalls in response to a Joe Biden deepfake incident. Although AI experts eventually unmasked the fraudulent nature of the Baltimore principal’s audio, the delayed revelation highlighted the potential harm inflicted by deepfakes. Timely intervention is crucial to mitigate the detrimental effects of AI deepfakes, underscoring the complexity of combating this evolving threat.
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