BALTIMORE (AP) — A former high school athletics director accused of using artificial intelligence to create a racist and antisemitic deepfake of a Maryland principal has been sentenced to four months in jail as part of a plea deal for disrupting school operations.
Dazhon Darien, 32, accepted the deal Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, records show. He entered an Alford plea to the single misdemeanor charge, which means he acknowledged the evidence against him without directly admitting guilt. His original charges included theft, stalking and retaliating against a witness.
According to police and prosecutors, Darien used AI software to generate a fake recording of former Pikesville High School principal Eric Eiswert’s voice expressing frustration with Black students and their test-taking abilities. The recording, which was disseminated throughout the school community and shared widely on social media last January, also purported to capture the principal disparaging Jewish people, authorities said.
Not long before the recording surfaced, Eiswert had informed Darien that his contract wouldn’t be renewed the following semester because of concerns over poor job performance, according to court documents. The concerns included allegations that Darien paid his roommate $1,900 in school funds under the pretense of coaching the girls’ soccer team, police said.
Experts who analyzed the recording concluded it was AI-generated.
Despite receiving a relatively short sentence, Darien could remain incarcerated longer as he faces a separate federal case in which he’s accused of sexual exploitation of children and possession of child sexual abuse material. Authorities said they discovered evidence of those crimes while searching Darien’s phone and other devices.
While fake recordings of political figures and celebrities have surfaced in recent years as the technology becomes more widespread, officials have said the case is among the first examples of AI being used to embarrass someone for personal gain.
The subset of artificial intelligence known as generative AI can create hyperrealistic images, videos and audio clips. As it becomes cheaper and easier to use, anyone with an internet connection can access its capabilities. Even a short recording of someone’s voice allows users to generate cloned speech from a script.
Other examples of AI-generated audio include robocalls impersonating former President Joe Biden that tried to dissuade Democrats from voting in last year’s New Hampshire primary election. People have also cloned the voices of purportedly kidnapped children over the phone to get ransom money from parents, experts say.
In response, many states have enacted laws in recent years targeting the use of AI, especially targeting media intended to influence election results and digitally created or altered child sexual abuse imagery.
During this year’s legislative session, Maryland lawmakers considered a bill that would have prohibited the use of AI to falsely impersonate people. Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger advocated in favor of the law change, but it ultimately didn’t pass.
Darien’s bogus audio sent shockwaves through the suburban Pikesville community as angry phone calls inundated the school and hate-filled messages accumulated on social media. Authorities said police were sent to patrol Eiswert’s home in response to threats.
Eiswert, who is now principal of another Baltimore County school, said from the beginning that he believed the recording was fake. He has since filed a lawsuit against the school district, alleging Darien never should have been hired in the first place.
Darien joined the district in spring 2023, when he started teaching social studies at a different high school, according to the lawsuit. He was later promoted to Pikesville athletic director.
Eiswert’s complaint cites reporting from The Baltimore Banner that revealed a host of false claims on Darien’s job application, including multiple degrees he hadn’t obtained. Florida education officials also denied Darien a teaching certificate in 2016 based on “test of document fraud” and flagged his name in a national database, the Banner found. Eiswert argues Baltimore County school officials failed to properly vet his application materials and investigate his background.
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