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Alleged incident at Pikesville HS highlights dangers of artificial intelligence

Posted: 4:32 PM, Apr 26, 2024
Updated: 2024-04-26 16:32:54-04
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BALTIMORE — Pikesville High School's athletic director allegedly using artificial intelligence to try and frame his principal is a first of its kind incident.

State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger even said his office struggled to find examples of something like this across the country.

"It seems very clear to me that we may need to make our way down to Annapolis and the legislature next year to bring the law up to date with the technology that was being used," said Shellenberger.

We spoke with Anton Dahbura, a cybersecurity expert from Johns Hopkins, saying deep fakes of this level are new and only the beginning.

"When we see something and we hear something, historically throughout our evolution we tend to believe it so these technologies now are really transforming that so that someone can create pretty much anything," said Anton Dahbura, co-director of the Johns Hopkins institute for assured technology.

"Anyone saying anything, doing anything and it is very very problematic," added Dahbura.

RELATED: Disgruntled ex athletic director allegedly created AI racist rant to retaliate against Pikesville principal

Now, AI only needs to access a small amount of a recording to be able to recreate someone's voice.

"Probably 12 years ago it would've taken days of someone speaking to start to get something that sounded like that person, now it's seconds, it's a short telephone conversation," said Dahbura.

Plenty of states have taken up laws addressing AI but most focus on using it to gather information.

Tennessee has a law against using it to steal an artists work.

Nothing against framing someone with the help of artificial intelligence.

Something Dahbura believes is needed.

"Really, we're behind the curve and will be for quite some time," said Dahbura.

"It's going to be very difficult to catch up because the technology is advancing so quickly," he added.

Lawmakers in Annapolis are aware of the incident at Pikesville High School and say changes could come as early as next legislative session.