Police: Principal framed using AI-generated audio
A Baltimore high school athletic director was arrested and charged Thursday with using artificial intelligence to impersonate a principal on a voice recording that included derogatory comments about students and staff, authorities said.
Dazhon Darien, a physical education teacher and athletic director at Pikesville High School, is accused of using artificial intelligence software to falsify a voice recording of school Principal Eric Eiswert, according to Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough. The fabricated recording went viral after it circulated on social media in January, causing widespread outrage and condemnation among the Baltimore County Public Schools community.
“We now have conclusive evidence that the recording was not authentic. The Baltimore County Police Department reached that determination after conducting an extensive investigation,” McCullough said during a news conference Thursday.
Darien, 31, was arrested Thursday morning at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport attempting to board a flight. He faces several charges including theft, stalking, disruption of school operations and retaliation against a witness, police said. He was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond Thursday afternoon.
Scott Shellenberger, the Baltimore County state’s attorney, said Thursday that the case appears to be one of the first of its kind nationwide. He noted that state lawmakers must update legislation to include the new technology.
The Baltimore case is the latest in a surge of AI misuse in schools across the nation. Most cases involve “deepfakes” or AI-generated synthetic media, which are images, videos and audio that digitally manipulate an individual’s appearance, voice or actions.
In the past year, schools have struggled to police the technology as male students in middle school and high school use AI to create nude photos of their classmates. While some cases have resulted in arrests, others have faced less severe consequences due to varying district policies and state laws.
The Baltimore County Police Department launched an investigation on Jan. 17 after an alleged voice recording of Eiswert making racist and antisemitic comments about students and staff was posted on Instagram. The recording triggered a massive online response and prompted an investigation from the school district.
In the recording, the voice said Black students were unable to “test their way out of a paper bag” and questioned “how hard it is to get these students to meet their grade-level expectations.” The recording also made disparaging comments about Jewish people and mentioned the names of staff members who “should have never been hired.”
As part of the police investigation, McCullough said investigators worked with forensic analysts from the FBI and the University of California, Berkeley, who determined that the recording was not authentic.
Police believe that Darien fabricated the recording in retaliation against Eiswert, who was pursuing an investigation into the potential mishandling of school funds at the time, McCullough said.
Baltimore County Public Schools said in a statement that the district is taking “appropriate action” against Darien’s conduct, including a recommendation for termination.
Contributing: Zachary Schermele and Natasha Lovato, USA TODAY