RCMP say images of the Fort Smith shooting suspect manipulated by AI and circulating on social media are inaccurate and should be disregarded.
Soon after police issued blurry, poor-quality stills of the suspect – the only images available from a chaotic event early on Saturday – versions began appearing that had been processed by AI.
In those versions, an AI has been used in an attempt to enhance the image quality by sharpening aspects of the suspect’s face and filling in the blanks by guessing at some facial features.
While some people who shared the AI-generated images said they were doing so in the hope that a clearer image of the suspect could be obtained, police said that wasn’t the case.
“Reports of AI generated photos of the suspect being shared on social media have been reported to the RCMP,” a statement issued at noon on Saturday read.
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“We are advising the public that these images do not match the descriptors of the suspect, and we are requesting the public to not share it any further as it is inaccurate.”
The suspect was still at large as of early Saturday afternoon and is believed to be armed, police said. Three people were hurt in the shooting, which happened outside a venue for the town’s Fireweed Festival.
