SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — In a since-updated social media post, the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office used artificial intelligence to make a wanted suspect’s photo appear to speak.
Nicholas Townes of Westmoreland was wanted for felony evading arrest. Additionally, Townes’ criminal record dates back to 2020 and has previously been charged with domestic assault, reckless driving and more. Using AI, the SCSO made a photo of Townes appear to talk and share ways for the public to report Townes to law enforcement.
The video quickly gained traction on Facebook and was shared more than 100 times. Many comments applauded the SCSO for their creativity while others took issue with the use of AI in that context. In the eyes of defense lawyer David Raybin with Raybin & Weissman, P.C. in Nashville, the post set a poor precedent.
“You’re creating a terrible danger there of putting innocent people at risk by putting things up on the internet that are not correct,” Raybin said. “…It may be attention-grabbing, but if the point is to apprehend the individual, you’re doing exactly the wrong thing.”
Raybin said as of publication, there are no set guidelines for law enforcement agencies when it comes to how they use AI other than “the rule of common sense.” Raybin said it could be utilized for investigative purposes.
“There are some purposes for AI and that would be for age-enhancement, for example,” Raybin explained. “…But to take someone like this and add their voices to it and animate it is ridiculous.”
Raybin said a disclaimer — something that communicates the use of AI in the video — should have been displayed across the SCSO’s original post. But could Townes file a lawsuit against the SCSO for their video? Raybin said no.
“He can’t sue at all because, what’s happened is — if he’s a wanted individual and they’ve made this animation of him — there’s no right of privacy in that kind of thing,” said Raybin.
News 2 spoke over the phone with the SCSO Thursday morning. Chief deputy Tommy Greer said the post was the agency’s way of engaging with the public in a different, more interactive way; one that generates more interest, as the post did.
Greer pointed out that the SCSO took Townes into custody hours after the post was published. However, the original post has since been changed to a static photo of Townes.
