WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A West Palm Beach content creator accused of using artificial intelligence to create fake, frightening videos of strangers for social media content has been arrested.
WATCH BELOW: 'I just made a banger with this one,' the man tells police in bodycam footage
According to a police report WPTV obtained, the 22-year-old was arrested Nov. 30 after showing a gas station clerk at the Marathon on Southern Boulevard and Dixie Highway an AI video of someone being dragged away.
Police said the the incident sparked a disturbance, and when officers arrived, the man refused to provide his home address, leading to his arrest on charges of resisting an officer.
Police said this marks the fourth incident involving the same individual, who, according to police, admitted to officers he "did the actions that night" to make more social media content and said people would "love his content more," because he's willing to get arrested.
"I just made a banger with this one, boss. My last one on TikTok hit, like, a mil," the man told police in bodycam footage Nov. 18.
We're not naming or showing the content creator, because he has not been charged with any crimes related to his AI videos.
"I'm definitely glad he’s been arrested, because obviously my concern is that he would do it to other people, but also, what other schemes may he come up with?" said Melanie Valentine.
WATCH BELOW: 'In that moment, it looked like a real video,' Melanie Valentine tells WPTV
Valentine was the first to report a similar incident involving the same man. She said he approached her at Home Depot on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard a month ago, showing her an AI video of her truck being stolen and trying to get her into his car to "catch the guy."
"It was certainly scary. It was shocking honestly how realistic the video was," Valentine said. "That certainly didn't feel like a prank."
Police said the man is connected to at least four incidents, including three at that Home Depot.
In another case captured on bodycam Nov. 18, officers said he recorded a shopper, created a fake video of the man kissing another woman, and showed it to the man's wife, while recording her reaction on his Meta glasses.
"That's gonna be the charge. That's not his wife — that's a fake woman," the content creator said to an officer in the footage, showing him the image on his phone.
WATCH: Lawmakers want AI protections as tech impacts state
Criminal defense attorney Stuart Kaplan said recording people in public and creating AI videos out of it isn't illegal unless criminal intent can be proven. However, he warned that such cases are surging and becoming more dangerous.
Currently, he's involved in a case down in Miami, where he said a man recorded children on a playground, then used their images to create child pornography.
"If AI is manipulated — and falls into the wrong hands — it can have a very, very troubling and damaging effect on our way of life," Kaplan said.
Kaplan noted that legislators are "obviously very behind" on addressing the issue, however, on Thursday Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a proposal for an AI Bill of Rights to to "define and safeguard Floridians’ rights."
According to the proposal, the bill would prohibit AI from using an individual’s name, image, likeness (NIL) without their consent.
"Obviously we're in the infancy of this, who knows how to navigate it properly, I don't think anyone really knows yet, but just creating awareness and possibly new legislation," said Valentine.
Police warn that AI videos are becoming increasingly realistic, making it harder to distinguish between real and fake content. The content creator did not respond to requests for comment.
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