A physical education teacher and former athletic director at a high school in Pikesville, Maryland, USA, was arrested and charged with using artificial intelligence to clone his voice to frame the school principal.
Baltimore County police believe that a recording circulating on social media in January, in which Pikesville High School Principal Eric Eisvert makes racist and anti-Semitic comments, is a fake. Experts told The Baltimore Banner and police that the recording, which briefly led to Eisvert’s suspension, has a «flat tone, extremely clear background sounds, and no consistent breathing sounds or pauses».
Baltimore County police traced the recording to Dajon Darien, the school’s former athletic director, whose name was also mentioned in the audio recording. From school computers, he allegedly «accessed OpenAI tools and Microsoft Bing Chat services». He was also linked to the published audio with an email address and a corresponding phone number for recovery. It is not reported which AI voice platform Darien allegedly used.
Police arrested Darien at the airport and released a statement: «It is believed that Mr. Darien, who was the athletic director at Pikesville High School, made the recording to retaliate against Mr. Aisvert, who was investigating potential misuse of school funds at the time».
The suspect was released after posting bail. He faced charges including theft, disruption of school operations, retaliation against a witness, and harassment.
Against the backdrop of such situations, OpenAI’s decision not to make its an AI platform for converting text to voice Voice Engine. The service, which requires only a 15-minute audio recording to clone someone’s voice, is only available to a limited number of researchers because of the potential risks involved.
Source: The Baltimore Banner