Baltimore County police arrested the former Pikesville High School athletic director Thursday on charges that he used one AI voice clone posing as the school’s principal, leading the public to believe that Principal Eric Eiswert had made racist and anti-Semitic comments The Baltimore Banner.
According to Banner, Dazhon Darien was stopped at a Baltimore airport Thursday morning while attempting to board a flight to Houston with a gun. Investigators determined that Darien had faked Eiswert’s voice using an AI cloning tool. The AI voice recordingthat was widely shared on social media, made derogatory comments about black students and the Jewish community.
“Based on an extensive investigation, investigators now have conclusive evidence that the recording was not authentic,” Baltimore County police said in a report Press release. “As part of their investigation, investigators hired an FBI-contracted forensic analyst to analyze the recording. The results of this analysis showed that the recording contained traces of AI-generated content.”
This deepfake reportedly sparked public outrage, resulting in Principal Eiswert receiving a wave of hateful messages and being forced to be temporarily removed from the school. The school’s reception was flooded with calls from concerned parents. The Pikesville School District eventually arranged for a police presence at the school and at Eiswert’s home to restore a sense of security.
Baltimore police officials say the former athletic director made the AI recording to retaliate against the school principal. A month before the recording went viral, The Banner reported that Eiswert had launched an investigation into Darien for possible theft of school funds. Darien, bypassing due process, authorized a $1,916 payment to the school’s JV basketball coach, who was also his roommate. Darien reportedly submitted his resignation in April School documents.
According to police, Darien was the first of three teachers to receive the audio clip the night before it went viral. The Banner reports that another teacher who received the recording sent it to students, media and the NAACP. Police wrote in charging documents that Darien used the school network on multiple occasions to search for OpenAI tools and use large language models. However, today many people are using these AI tools. It is currently unclear how investigators were able to identify Darien as the author of this voice recording.
Creating AI-generated audio deepfakes is a growing problem for the tech world. The Federal Communications Commission took steps in February to ban deepfake robocalls after a Joe Biden’s deepfake misled voters in New Hampshire.
In this case, AI experts were able to determine that the alleged audio recording of the Baltimore school principal was fake. However, this came two months after the audio went viral and the damage may already be done. AI deepfakes really need to be stopped early to minimize the damage, but that’s easier said than done.