AI Backfires In Utah After Police Report Claims Officer Turned Into a Frog
AI still has some kinks that need to be worked out
Like a lot of people, I'm fascinated by what artificial intelligence is capable of and how we can use it.
But I'm equally — if not more fascinated by the ways it can go wrong, and that's what happened to a police department in Utah.
According to Fox 13 Salt Lake City (KTSU), police in Heber City, Utah, use a pair of AI programs that use bodycam footage to write reports. It's a pretty cool idea, and the thought is that by reducing paperwork, officers will have more time to be out, y'know, policing.
One of these programs is called Draft One, and that was the one that raised some eyebrows when it penned a report claiming that the involved officer had been turned into a frog.
An AI tool used by police in Utah misfired hilariously, generating a report claiming an officer turned into a frog after mishearing a Disney movie. (Getty Images)
"The body cam software and the AI report writing software picked up on the movie that was playing in the background, which happened to be 'The Princess and the Frog,'" Sgt. Keel told FOX 13 News. "That’s when we learned the importance of correcting these AI-generated reports."
Luckily, that would be an easy error to spot. I mean, there are a lot of crazy things that can happen for police officers out and about doing some good old-fashioned crime fighting, but I am confident in saying that magically transforming into a frog is not one of them.
… Though, in fairness, I haven't been to Utah. Maybe something wacky happens there that I'm not privy to.
But at least, if the new AI program is being used to write police reports, it picked up something as wholesome as a pre-woke Disney movie. That's about as good an outcome as you could've gotten unless someone was watching some Ken Burns documentaries.
"…Then the AI program would be like, "…the officer fought in the Civil War, then played some baseball, and finally told the entire history of jazz."
I'm sure they'll get this program dialed in, and there will be a huge drop in police reports out of Heber City claiming an officer was magically transformed into some sort of amphibian.