Maine police department apologizes for AI-doctored evidence photo

The Maine Police Department has apologized for accidentally posting a photo of drug evidence that had been changed by artificial intelligence on social media.

A scale and white powder in plastic bags were among the items of drug paraphernalia allegedly found during a recent drug bust on Brackett Street, according to the Westbrook Police Department’s photo. Westbrook police said that one of the arresting officers took the evidence shot and added the department’s patch using a photo-editing program.

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The department explained in a post that the patch was applied and that one of our Facebook admins received the photo with the patch and shared it. Nobody realized that the software changed the packaging and a few other aspects of the picture when it applied the fix. We didn’t notice it or catch it.

Social media users quickly began criticizing the altered image for its cryptic text and blurry edges. Westbrook police first disputed that artificial intelligence (AI) was used to create the image, but they later acknowledged that the AI chatbot ChatGPT was utilized, according to the Portland Press Herald.

The department shared a comparison of the original and altered photos along with a public apology on Tuesday.

The department’s post stated, “We never intended to change the appearance of the evidence.” We had no idea that adding our logo with a Photoshop software would significantly change a picture.

Additionally, Westbrook police clarified that they have previously come across drug-related products with packaging that contained nonsense words.

We believed this to be the case in this instance as well when we were first made aware of the public’s concerns about the photograph, the department continued. It is obvious that we need to have investigated the shared image more.

According to a May Reuters study, judges and lawyers tasked with evaluating the validity and dependability of evidence face substantial difficulties due to the growing popularity of artificial intelligence.

According to Westbrook police, we view this as a valuable lesson learned. We will be inviting the press media to view the original evidence so they can confirm that it is real in order to maintain complete transparency.

Abby Patkin covers a wide range of topics as a general assignment news reporter, including crime, public transportation, health, and everything in between. She has been reporting on the murder case of Karen Read.