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Europol warns of AI-powered organized crime
According to anew report, criminals are using AI to create scams in multiple languages, produce realistic impersonations to aid blackmail, and generate child sexual abuse material. Europol recently cracked down on the latter,coordinating the arrests of 24 people across 19 countries for violating national laws against deepfake child pornography.
“The very DNA of organized crime is changing rapidly, adapting to a world in flux,” wrote Europol executive director Catherine De Bolle. “These innovations [in AI] expand the speed, scale, and sophistication of organized crime, creating an even more complex and rapidly evolving threat landscape for law enforcement.” The report also warns that in the future autonomous AIs could even control criminal networks without human guidance.Pikesville High School, part of Baltimore County Public Schools, investigated a recording of racist and antisemitic remarks allegedly made by its principal, leading to the recent charges against Dazhon Darien.
Alleged AI crime rocks Maryland high school
Dazhon Darien, a former athletic director at Pikesville High School in Baltimore County, Maryland, was arrested on April 25 and charged with a litany of crimes related to using AI to frame the school's principal. Darien allegedly created a fake AI voice of Principal Eric Eiswert, used it to generate racist and antisemitic statements, and posted the audio on social media in January. Eiswert was temporarily removed from the school after the audio emerged.
The police allege that Darien used the school’s internet to search for AI tools and sent emails about the recording. The audio was then sent to and posted by a popular Baltimore-area Instagram account on Jan. 17. It’s unclear which tool was used to make the recording, but digital forensics experts said it was clearly fake.
At least 10 states have some form of deepfake laws, though some are focused on pornography. Still, AI-specific charges are rare in the US. Darien was charged with disrupting school activities, theft, retaliation against a witness, and stalking.
Deepfake audio has become a major problem in global elections, but this story demonstrates it can also easily weaponize person-to-person disputes.