Technology

~Spot the differences: Original drug bust photo (left) vs. AI-modified version (right)~

A Maine police department's attempt to add their logo to a drug bust photo backfired spectacularly when citizens caught them lying about using artificial intelligence to alter evidence photos.

"This is NOT an AI-generated photo," Westbrook Police declared on Facebook when first questioned about oddities in their photos of seized meth and fentanyl. They doubled down, insisting "Westbrook PD is not and would never generate an AI photo to try and depict evidence." But internet sleuths weren't buying it. Missing "cookie" stickers, vanished drug residue, and mysteriously altered colors pointed to AI manipulation. Within days, the department was forced to admit the truth — they had indeed used AI software, supposedly just to add their department patch to the image.

The incident exposed an alarming gap between police technological capabilities and understanding. When an officer fed the evidence photo through what they thought was "a photoshop app," the AI rewrote reality — altering drug packaging, removing key details, and creating what amounts to falsified evidence documentation. Even more troubling, the department didn't notice these changes before posting.

"The fact that the person who posted it and put it through ChatGPT didn't notice the differences because they were very obvious…it makes me wonder how much people understand about technology and how easy it is to fool people," said local resident Jessica Wellman, capturing widespread concern about police departments wielding powerful AI tools they don't fully grasp.

Republished from Boing Boing under Creative Commons License.