Massachusetts man pleads guilty to AI chatbot impersonation cyberstalking
James Florence pleaded guilty to using AI chatbots on CrushOn.ai and JanitorAI to impersonate a university professor and lure strangers to her home. The case reportedly marks the first criminal indictment where a stalker used chatbots to facilitate impersonation crimes, targeting the victim and six other women and a minor.
What happened
James Florence, 36, used AI chatbot platforms CrushOn.ai and JanitorAI to impersonate a university professor over a seven-year period. Florence fed the chatbots the victim's personal information including her home address, date of birth, and family information, and programmed them to engage in sexual dialogue and invite users to her home.
Florence created a public JanitorAI chatbot with the description 'Is University's Hottest Professor. How Will You Seduce Her?' and told chatbots to suggest 'Why don't you come over?' to users. Strangers responded by pulling into the victim's driveway, and Florence had also stolen the victim's underwear from her home.
Reported impact
The victim and her husband experienced significant distress from the strangers arriving at their home. The couple installed security cameras and door alarms, and the professor now carries defensive tools due to physical anxieties.
Court documents reveal Florence similarly targeted six other women and a 17-year-old girl using digital manipulation and impersonation.
Index analysis
This case is believed to be the first in which a stalker has been indicted for using a chatbot to impersonate a victim to facilitate crimes. The misuse of AI chatbots for sexual harassment and exploitation, including of children, is reportedly on the rise.
Governance controls
The platforms CrushOn.ai and JanitorAI allow users to design their own chatbots and direct them how to respond to other users during chats, including in sexually suggestive and explicit ways, according to court documents.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.