Police arrested a Baltimore high school athletic director Thursday after they said they discovered he allegedly used artificial intelligence to create a phony audio recording of the school’s principal that went viral and cost the school leader his job temporarily and his safety.
“It not only led to Eisworth’s temporary removal but also triggered a wave of hate-filled messages on social media and numerous calls to the school,” the charging document said.
Eisworth ordered an investigation into Darien in December over allegations that he misused school funds, the charging document said.
Darien was one of three teachers who first received the audio from a mysterious e-mail, the charging document read.
However, investigators were able to determine that the email address that sent out the audio was registered to Darien, the charging document said.
The charging document claimed that Darien has a paid OpenAI account, which gives users more features than the free version.
Rogers said that for now, interim leaders would serve out the rest of the school year at Pikesville High School while the investigation continues.
“We will work with principal Eisworth and the Pikesville community concerning next year,” she said.
A high school athletic director in Baltimore was taken into custody by police on Thursday, they said, after they learned that he had allegedly used artificial intelligence to fabricate an audio recording of the principal of the school, which went viral and cost the principal both his job and his safety.
After the school district started looking into the audio recording that went viral among employees and on social media in January, principal Eric Eisworth was fired from Pikesville High School. According to the investigation, Eisworth made racist remarks against Black and Jewish people in the clip.
Baltimore Chief of Police Robert McCollough said that after a three-month investigation involving the FBI and local law enforcement, it was determined that the school’s athletic director, Dazhon Darien, had used artificial intelligence (AI) tools to forge the audio.
In a news conference on Thursday, McCollough informed reporters, “Detectives claimed Mr. Darien…made the recording to exact revenge against the principal who had initiated an investigation into the possible mishandling of school funds.”.
The circumstances started on January. 16, according to the charging documents, when the tape that seemed to be a conversation between Eisworth and an assistant principal first surfaced.
Eisworth is accused in the charging document of making “disparaging comments” about two teachers and Jewish people, as well as asserting that Black students could not “test their way out of a paper bag” during the audio.
The audio had “profound repercussions” for Eisworth and the school community, according to investigators.
According to the charging document, “it not only resulted in Eisworth’s temporary removal but also sparked a wave of hate-filled messages on social media and numerous calls to the school.”.
According to the charging document, Eisworth informed investigators that Darien, 31, might have been involved because he was proficient with technology, even though he insisted the conversation captured on tape never occurred.
According to the charging document, Darien was accused of misusing school funds, so Eisworth ordered an investigation into him in December.
According to the charging document, Darien was one of three teachers who initially got the audio through an enigmatic email. According to the charging documents, one of the other teachers told investigators she sent the message to a Pikesville High student “who she knew would rapidly spread the message around various social media outlets.”.
The investigators stated that the unnamed teacher also sent the audio to various media outlets and organizations, such as the NAACP.
According to the charging document, the teacher first withheld information from the authorities indicating that Darien was among the message’s original recipients.
Investigators say that during Darien’s interrogation, he denied knowing the identity of the sender of the audio. The charging document did state that investigators were able to ascertain that Darien was the registered owner of the email address used to send the audio.
The recording included elements of AI-generated content, according to the charging document, which was determined by two forensic analysts who specialize in AI and were given the audio by the Baltimore Police Department.
Investigators claim Darien recorded the conversation using his large language models, which include OpenAI and Bing chat. According to the charging document, Darien has a premium OpenAI account, which offers users access to additional features not available in the free edition.
He was detained at Thurgood Marshall Airport on Thursday morning while attempting to board a flight to Houston, according to police and charging documents. He was accused of numerous crimes, including stalking and interfering with a school’s operations.
According to investigators, Darien attempted to declare a firearm at the airport, which set off a security check that turned up the arrest warrant that was issued the previous evening.
The investigation is still going on.
On Thursday afternoon, Darien was freed after posting a $5,000 unsecured bond. It took a while for the defendant’s attorney information to become available.
Superintendent of Baltimore County Schools Myriam Rogers informed reporters that Darien’s disciplinary action had started administratively, and that this could result in his dismissal.
She also mentioned that the other teachers who shared the audio are being looked into by the school.
According to Rogers, interim administrators will remain at Pikesville High School for the remainder of the academic year while the investigation is ongoing.
“We will collaborate with Principal Eisworth and the Pikesville community in regards to the upcoming year,” she declared.
“We are appreciative that we can provide the community some closure, and we can now turn our attention to moving forward and giving everyone a new beginning,” Rogers continued.
