Westbrook Police Department posts AI-altered drug evidence photo on Facebook
A Maine police department posted an AI-altered photograph of drug evidence on social media after an officer used a photo-editing app to add the department's badge. The altered image showed distorted text and malformed details that were not present in the original, and the department initially denied AI involvement before issuing a public apology.
What happened
An officer from the Westbrook Police Department used a photo-editing app powered by ChatGPT to add the department's badge to a photograph of drug evidence seized during a bust on Brackett Street.
The app altered the image substantially, distorting text on packaging and changing other attributes of the evidence without anyone noticing. The image was posted to the department's Facebook page on Sunday evening showing methamphetamine and fentanyl allegedly seized from six people.
Social media users pointed out malformed text and muddled lines indicating AI alteration. The department initially responded Tuesday denying AI use and suggesting the gibberish text was from foreign illicit packaging, before deleting both posts and issuing a new update confirming the AI alterations.
Reported impact
Hundreds of Facebook commenters criticized the image, prompting the department to investigate. Captain Steven Goldberg said department leadership and the officer who used the app were unaware that ChatGPT could alter or change images in this way.
Index analysis
The app inserted the department's patch, which unintentionally altered the packaging and other attributes in the photograph, creating gibberish text and hazy edges that were not present in the original image.
Governance controls
The Westbrook Police Department issued a public apology Tuesday with a side-by-side comparison of the original and altered images. The department stated it never intended to alter the evidence image and called it "a valuable lesson learned."
The department invited news media to view the original evidence to verify that the seized materials actually exist.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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