Another great application of AI. (NOT!)

I am not a super big fan of artificial intelligence. Sure, it's inevitable. Sure, there will be plenty of life-enhancing applicaitons for it. But mostly, if we don't somehow manage to corral the reckless tech bros, it stands a good chance of becoming and economic and existential threat. (Looking at you, Elon Musk.)

And it's already being used for - what else - criming. As the case in the case against James Florence, a Massachusetts man in his thirties who spent seven years cyberstalking a (former) friend, using tactics that included AI chatbots "impersonate a university professor and invite men online to her home address for sex."

James Florence, 36, used platforms such as CrushOn.ai and JanitorAI, which allow users to design their own chatbots and direct them how to respond to other users during chats, including in sexually suggestive and explicit ways, according to court documents seen by the Guardian. The victim’s identity has been kept confidential by law enforcement officials. (Source: The Guardian)

Florence has pleaded guilty "to using the victim’s personal and professional information – including her home address, date of birth and family information to instruct the chatbots to impersonate her and engage in sexual dialogue with users, per court filings." The chatbot would invite actual non-chatbot humans to come to her house for sex. (The victim is married, btw.)

Among other things, he fed in info on what type of underwear she liked, which he knew because he'd stolen some from her home. (Ewww...) Not as ewww...as the fact that Florence also pleaded guilty to one count of possession of kiddie porn. 

Florence provided plenty of detail for the JanitorAI chatbot to ingest and act on, including:

...the victim’s personal information such as employment history, education, hobbies, typical dress, the name of her husband and where he worked, and the date of her mother’s death so that it would divulge this information during interactions with users.

Can't blame all this perverto's perviness on AI. He created all sorts of social media accounts in his victim's name that included sexually explicit images of her that he'd manipulated and photoshopped. 

And he also left her a voicemail saying that her father had been killed in a car accident.

What a prize!

This all went on from 2017 to 2024, withe professor and her husband fearing for their lives.

The couple installed surveillance cameras in their home and placed sleigh bells on their inside door handles to alert them of any movement. The professor now carries pepper spray and knives with her as a result of the harassment, according to the court documents.

While Florence was clearly obsessed with the professor, she wasn't his exclusive interest. 

Florence targeted six other women and a 17-year-old girl, digitally altering their pictures to depict them as nude or semi-nude. He impersonated them on platforms such as OkCupid, X, Yahoo, Classmates.com, Facebook and escort websites.

Again, all this didn't involve AI, but "the use of artificial intelligence to sexually harass and exploit people, including children, is increasing." AI makes the stalking easier, more "efficient," more multiplicative. 

I don't know if Florence will end up in prison, in what we used to call the loony bin, or both. But what a swell application for all the brilliant AI technology out there. (NOT!)