Because the clip was audio-only, it meant there were no visual treats, such as robot movements, that would normally reveal AI manipulation. We also mentioned jargon like “grade level expectations” and other details that only people close to the school would know, like staff names.
But if you listen carefully, there is clear editing between sentences, and the voice sounds similar to the principal’s, but quite monotonous. Artificial intelligence can use a few minutes of a real recording, say your favorite actor from a movie or a presidential candidate’s speech, to generate a clip that makes it sound like they said something they never said.
But Mr. Malone said the biggest reason people believed the video was real was because it felt real.
He drew on his own experience with racism as a black man living in Baltimore.
When Malone heard her principal describe black students as lazy, she was immediately reminded of the slurs and discrimination she had experienced at school and at work.
Months later, the impact of the fake audio clip is still felt in Pikesville. Mr Eiswert has changed jobs and is working at a different school. And although some community members say they now acknowledge the video is fake, the damage has already been done.
A woman named Sharon said this to me last August as she loaded her grandchild’s stroller into her car at her home across from the high school. “This is a Jewish neighborhood and it was upsetting to say such inflammatory things about that community.”
For several minutes Sharon talked to me as if the video was real.
“I think when people say things like that, other people join in and it makes them even more fearful.”
When her husband called her from the car to remind her that the clip was in fact fake, she admitted, “I found out later that it was generated by AI.” But she said she was still upset about it.
