According to Futurism, Netflix has been accused of employing artificial intelligence (AI) to modify the images in the true crime documentary What Jennifer Did. Numerous images display common indicators of AI deceit, such as deformed hands, peculiar artifacts, and more. If the claim is true, it begs major concerns regarding the use of these kinds of photos in documentaries, especially when the subject of the image is incarcerated and awaiting trial.
Jennifer Pan, the focus of the documentary, has a notably deformed left hand in one horrifying picture, and her cheek has an odd gap in another. Although the photographs exhibit obvious signs of manipulation and were never identified as AI-generated, Netflix has not responded to the report.
The AI may be generating the imagery based on real photos of Pan, as PetaPixel suggested. However, the resulting output may be interpreted as being prejudicial instead of presenting the facts of the case without bias.
A Canadian court of appeal ordered Pan’s retrial because the trial judge didn’t present the jury with enough options, the CBC reported.
One critic, journalist Karen K. HO, said that the Netflix documentary is an example of the “true crime industrial complex” catering to an “all-consuming and endless” appetite for violent content. Netflix’s potential use of AI manipulated imagery as a storytelling tool may reinforce that argument.
Regulators in the US, Europe and elsewhere have enacted laws on the use of AI, but so far there appears to be no specific laws governing the use of AI images or video in documentaries or other content.
