Description: Religious communities in the U.S. and abroad reported the circulation of purportedly AI-generated videos and cloned audio impersonating pastors and church leaders, including Father Mike Schmitz, to solicit donations and spread incendiary sermons. The impersonations reportedly leveraged synthetic voice and likeness tools and were distributed via platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, and messaging apps. Some content remained unlabeled as AI-generated and was treated as authentic by viewers.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Deepfake technology developers and Synthetic audio generation technology developers developed an AI system deployed by Scammers and Scammers impersonating religious figures, which harmed Mike Schmitz , Religious leaders , Religious institutions , Religious communities , Churches , Congregants , General public and Epistemic integrity.
Alleged implicated AI systems: TikTok , Facebook , Instagram , Social media platforms , Messaging apps , Deepfake technology and Synthetic audio generation technology
Incident Stats
Risk Subdomain
A further 23 subdomains create an accessible and understandable classification of hazards and harms associated with AI
4.3. Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation
Risk Domain
The Domain Taxonomy of AI Risks classifies risks into seven AI risk domains: (1) Discrimination & toxicity, (2) Privacy & security, (3) Misinformation, (4) Malicious actors & misuse, (5) Human-computer interaction, (6) Socioeconomic & environmental harms, and (7) AI system safety, failures & limitations.
- Malicious Actors & Misuse
Entity
Which, if any, entity is presented as the main cause of the risk
Human
Timing
The stage in the AI lifecycle at which the risk is presented as occurring
Post-deployment
Intent
Whether the risk is presented as occurring as an expected or unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Intentional
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
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Father Mike Schmitz, a Catholic priest and podcaster, addressed his congregation of more than 1.2 million YouTube subscribers in November with an unusual kind of homily. You couldn't always trust the words coming out of his mouth, Schmitz s…
Variants
A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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