Police Issue Warning About “AI Homeless Man” Prank

The trend shows how widespread highly sophisticated generative AI tools have become, foreshadowing a future in which you can’t believe even imagery from friends and family. Case in point, countless videos on social media involve youngsters boasting about how they terrified their parents or friends with the help of AI.

“No, I don’t know him,” one disgruntled father messaged their son in one TikTok video that got millions of views. “What does he want?”

“He said you guys went to school together, I invited him in,” the son replied, posting an AI-edited image of a man sitting on presumably the family’s couch.

“JOE PICK UP THE PHONE,” the alarmed parent replied. “I DON’T KNOW HIM!!!!!”

The prank has gained so much momentum that law enforcement is now issuing warnings, NBC News reports.

“Besides being in bad taste, there are many reasons why this prank is, to put it bluntly, stupid and potentially dangerous,” the Salem, Massachusetts police department wrote in a statement. “This prank dehumanizes the homeless, causes the distressed recipient to panic and wastes police resources.”

A press release by the Oak Harbor police department in Washington also warned of “safety concerns” related to an “‘AI homeless man’ prank.” Circulating images made it look like a “homeless individual was present on the Oak Harbor High School Campus.”

“AI tools can create highly convincing images, and misinformation can spread quickly, causing unnecessary fear or diverting public safety resources,” the statement reads.

Some are warning that the prank may go far beyond wasting police resources as well.

“We want to be clear: this behavior is not a ‘prank’ — it is a crime,” the Brown County, Ohio sheriff’s office wrote in a post on Facebook, following a separate incident. “Both juveniles involved have been criminally charged for their roles in these incidents.”

It’s not just the United States, either. British teens are also using AI tools to prank their parents or friends, according to the BBC, with local law enforcement warning to check if distressing pictures are a prank before calling the cops.

“You know, pranks, even though they can be innocent, can have unintended consequences,” Round Rock, Texas, police department commander Andy McKinney told NBC. “And oftentimes young people don’t think about those unattended consequences and the families they may impact, maybe their neighbors, and so a real-life incident could be happening with one of their neighbors, and they’re draining resources, thinking this is going to be fun.”

More on generative AI: People Are Using OpenAI’s Sora to Mock the Dead