Fake AI-generated images are more convincing than ever. Are courts and police ready to combat them?

The social media post from Santa Ana police late last month was alarming: “SNAKE SIGHTING ALERT,” it read, aside a local resident’s menacing photo of what looked to be a highly venomous snake that might be slithering around town. Some astute Facebook users immediately suspected the photo of the coiled Gaboon viper was fake – maybe generated by AI. But other Santa Ana residents understandably responded with alarm. Police quelled some concern by saying they were bringing in a snake expert to help investigate the incident. Within a day, on Sept. 29, authorities sent out a second announcement: The snake photo was indeed fake, and the needless scare was the result of a local resident’s apparent hoax. While it turned out that image was generated with AI, investigators could not immediately verify the fraud. The hoax stoked “unnecessary fear, confusion and concern in our community,” according to police. As major AI players such as OpenAI, Google and Anthropic refine generative AI models, imag