Getty/BBCAn audio clip of a local school principal making derogatory remarks has gone viral online, sparked death threats against educators and sent ripples through Baltimore City’s outer suburbs. However, it was soon revealed to be a fake manipulated by artificial intelligence. So why do people still believe it’s real?
“I really don’t understand why I keep putting up with these idiots here every day.”
So the Pikesville High School principal launched into a tirade punctuated by racist, anti-Semitic and offensive metaphors. It seemed like it was recorded in secret.
The speaker went on to lament the “ungrateful black children” and Jews in the community.
The video, first posted last January, went viral nationwide. But it had a huge impact on the peaceful, leafy suburb of Pikesville, which has large black and Jewish communities, and the nearby city of Baltimore, Maryland. Principal Eric Eiswert has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation.
Alfie Malone, a black man who lives in nearby Baltimore, noticed other members of his community posting the video and thought it was real.
“I think in my heart, this is probably how people actually feel about us,” Mr. Malone said. “Then you actually hear the audio coming out.”
To corroborate what he was hearing, Mr. Malone checked other actual recordings of Mr. Eiswert on social media, and they sounded the same.
So the part-time mailman and part-time podcaster hit the reshare button.
The clip began gaining traction across social media as more people spread it online. One of the most shared versions began racking up over 2 million views within hours. That’s already about 60 times the entire population of Pikesville.
But what those who shared the clip at the time didn’t realize was that another bombshell was about to drop. The clip was an AI-generated fake.
for Why Do You Hate Me USA on BBC Radio 4I was in Maryland to investigate the impact this video had on that town. It reads like an allegory about the risks posed by AI, especially when communities are targeted.
AI fake analysis
When the video arrived on the desk of Kristen Griffith, an education reporter for the Baltimore Banner, she thought it would be a relatively simple story about a teacher being exposed for making offensive remarks.
But as a model example of journalism, Mr Griffiths wanted to give the principal an opportunity to comment and tell his story. So she contacted his union representative, who not only condemned Mr. Eiswert’s comments, but said he never made them.
“He spoke immediately. Oh, we think this is fake… We believe it is AI,” she told the BBC. “I’ve never heard that angle” before.
But when she published that explanation, her readers weren’t convinced. Rather than raising questions about the video’s veracity, it only sparked a backlash from those who thought the alleged forgery was just an excuse or an attempt to avoid responsibility.
At this time, local police began investigating the incident. Staff at Pikesville High said they felt unsafe because of all the attention and were concerned the school was wiretapped with recording devices.
Principal Eiswert’s reputation also took a serious hit. Security has been tightened around him and the school. He became the target of hate and threats on social media. I found dozens of abusive messages aimed at him on social media.
getty imagesThen, in April, Baltimore Police Chief Robert McCullough confirmed that he had “conclusive evidence that the recordings were not authentic.”
And they believed they knew who created the fake.
Police charged the school’s athletic director, 31-year-old Dazhon Darien, with several charges related to the fake video. The charges included theft, retaliation against a witness, and stalking.
He was arrested at the airport, and police said he was planning to fly to Houston, Texas.
Police said Mr Darien was questioned by Principal Eiswert on suspicion of stealing $1,916 (£1,460) from the school. They also claim there have been “performance issues” and that his contract is likely not to be renewed.
Their theory was that he had created a deepfake recording and hoped to discredit the principal before he was fired.
Investigators traced the email used to send the original video to a server connected to Mr. Darien and alleged that he used the Baltimore County Public Schools’ computer network to access the AI tools. He is scheduled to go on trial in December 2024.
Mr. Darien’s legal representative did not respond to a request for comment.
Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Myriam Rogers previously said it was a “very difficult time” for the school community, the principal and his family.
Representatives of Pikesville High School and Mr. Eiswert did not respond to requests for further comment.
Why did people believe that video?
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.
However, if you listen carefully, there is clear editing between sentences, and the voice, although similar to the principal’s, sounds quite monotonous. Artificial intelligence can use a few minutes of an actual 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 experiences 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. 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 actually fake, she admitted, “I found out later that it was generated by AI.” But she said she was still upset about it.
I found that the video was memorable, even if only for a short time, for people like Sharon who believed it was real. This is especially true when those messages reflect real experiences of racism and discrimination. It reminded me of something I’ve heard time and time again while researching misinformation and conspiracy theories. “Well, even if that’s not real, I think that’s what they think.”
All major social media companies say they have policies to label, remove, and limit the spread of AI-generated posts. However, this action will only happen if the clip is proven to be fake. By that point, it may have already reached millions of people.
Alfie Malone said he had spoken to a friend earlier that day who did not yet know if the video had been generated by AI.
“I honestly believe that a lot of people here in this city don’t know that’s not true,” he said.
He said it was unfortunate that the school’s headmaster, Mr Eiswert, had been unfairly criticized for making these comments. He is also concerned that the episode undermined real-life experiences of racism.
He said he would think twice before sharing these clips again.
“I got burned in a fire once. “I will never touch a stove again.”
