AI Photo: VCG

The police in Shaoxing, East China's Zhejiang Province, recently cracked down a gang that was using ChatGPT to make fake videos, the first case of its kind in Zhejiang, according to the official account of Shaoxing Public Security Bureau on Wednesday.

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot developed by Microsoft that allows users to generate responses based on user prompts and questions. According to AP News, ChatGPT has been used to create deep fakes, which are fabricated digital images, videos, or other forms of media content that appear to be real.

On June 2, during the online inspection, the police of Shangyu district identified a netizen referred to as "Xianyijieshuo" posted a video about a fire in Shangyu Industrial Park. In a short period of time, the number of views of the video quickly increased.

Authorities attempted to verify the video only to find it to be fake. The Shangyu police quickly identified a tech group in another province linked with the crime. On June 5, police apprehended three suspects.

Following the investigation, it was discovered that the company had illegally acquired a number of online video accounts since May this year. The group had spliced and produced fake videos through ChatGPT before publishing on social media platforms to gain traffic and generate income. To date, the gang has illegally purchased more than 1,500 video accounts and released more than 3,000 fake videos.

The three suspects are being held by police for picking quarrels and provoking trouble, and the case is being further investigated.

Back in May, the public security authorities of Northwest China's Gansu Province issued a statement exposing a case of a man using ChatGPT to write a story about a fake train crash that supposedly led to the deaths of nine construction workers, which he then published online. The story went viral with several mainstream outlets unknowingly picking up the story.

Global Times