Current Events > Ex-employee accused of framing principal for racist comment using AI

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https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/eric-eiswert-ai-audio-baltimore-county-YBJNJAS6OZEE5OQVF5LFOFYN6M/

Baltimore County Police arrestedPikesville High Schools former athletic director Thursday morning and charged him with using artificial intelligence to impersonate Principal Eric Eiswert, leading the public to believe Eiswert made racist and antisemitic comments behind closed doors.

Dazhon Darien, 31, was apprehended as he attempted to board a flight to Houston at BWI Airport, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. Darien was stopped for having a gun on him and airport officials saw there was a warrant for his arrest. Police said they did not know whether Darien was trying to flee.

Darien was charged with disrupting school activities after investigators determined he faked Eiswerts voice and circulated the audio on social media in January, according to the Baltimore County States Attorneys Office.Dariens nickname, DJ, was among the names mentioned in the audio clips authorities say he faked.

The audio clip ... had profound repercussions, police wrote in charging documents. It not only led to Eiswerts temporary removal from the school but also triggered a wave of hate-filled messages on social media and numerous calls to the school. The recording also caused significant disruptions for the PHS staff and students.

Police say Darien made the recording in retaliation after Eiswert initiated an investigation into improper payments he made to a school athletics coach who was also his roommate. Darien is also charged with theft and retaliating against a witness.

Darien was allowed release on $5,000 bond and waived an attorney at an initial court appearance, according to court records. Attempts to reach him by phone and at his home were unsuccessful.

Eiswerts voice, which police and AI experts believe was simulated, made disparaging comments about Black students and the surrounding Jewish community and was widely circulated on social media.

Questions about the audios authenticity quickly followed. Police wrote in charging documents that Darien had accessed the schools network on multiple occasions in December and January searching for OpenAI tools, and used Large Language Models that practice deep learning, which involves pulling in vast amounts of data from various sources on the internet, can recognize text inputted by the user, and produce conversational results. They also connected Darien to an email account that had distributed the recording.

Many current and former students believed Eiswert was responsible for the offensive remarks, while former colleagues denounced the audio and defended Eiswerts character. Eiswert himself has denied making those comments and said the comments do not align with his views.

The audio, posted to the popular Instagram accountmurder_ink_bmore, prompted a Baltimore County Public Schools and Baltimore County Police investigation. Eiswert has not been working in the school since the investigation began.

The voice refers to ungrateful Black kids who cant test their way out of a paper bag and questions how hard it is to get those students to meet grade-level expectations. The speakeruses names of people who appear to be staff members and says they should not have been hired, and thathe should get rid of another person one way or another.

And if I have to get one more complaint from one more Jew in this community, Im going to join the other side, the voice said.

Darien was being investigated as of December in a theft investigation that had been initiated by Eiswert. Police say Darien had authorized a $1,916 payment to the schools junior varsity basketball coach, who was also his roommate, under the pretense that he was an assistant girls soccer coach. He was not, school officials said.

Eiswert determined that Darien had submitted the payment to the school payroll system, bypassing proper procedures. Darien had been notified of the investigation, police said.

Police say the clip was received by three teachers the night before it went viral. The first was Darien; a third said she received the email and then got a call from Darien and teacher Shaena Ravenell telling her to check her email. Ravenell told police that she had forwarded the email to a students cell phone, who she knew would rapidly spread the message around various social media outlets and throughout the school, and also sent it to the media and the NAACP, police said.

She did not mention receiving it from Darien until confronted about his involvement. Ravenell has not been charged with a crime and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Both Darien and Ravenell have submitted their resignations to the school system, according to an April 16 school board document. The resignations are dated June 30.

The tech companies hope that by throwing their garbage product into the public, one person somewhere might find a use for it that isn't a crime.

Well, at least they caught him.

Hospy posted...

Well, at least they caught him.

I have a feeling we'll be seeing more incidents like this in the near future.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/67bb0944.jpg

Dazhon Darien, 31, was apprehended as he attempted to board a flight to Houston at BWI Airport, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. Darien was stopped for having a gun on him and airport officials saw there was a warrant for his arrest. Police said they did not know whether Darien was trying to flee.

That's why you shouldn't carry a weapon with you when fleeing

Fenriswolf posted...

That's why you shouldn't carry a weapon with you when fleeing

Especially if your escape plan involves a fucking airport

Why did the one teacher think it was appropriate to send a non-academic email to a student like that, too?

The whole thing is just profoundly dumb.

Thats absolutely terrifying though, even if it was caught. If the dude behind wasnt really stupid this couldve ended much worse