HUGO, Okla. (KXII) – A social media trend using artificial intelligence to create threatening images has spread to schools in Texoma, according to Choctaw County Undersheriff Ronald Miller.
Trend uses AI-generated characters
Miller said the trend involves people taking pictures of locations and using AI to insert characters, such as the Cat in the Hat or Jason, into the images.
Miller said the characters are shown standing near school grounds and are accompanied by threatening messages.
“I’m coming, I’ll be there Monday, get ready, it’s a vague threat but you have to take it seriously,” Miller said.
Video posted about Hugo schools
A video directed at Hugo Public Schools was posted this past weekend. Miller said the post shifted his office into overdrive.
“We’ve been checking bags and everything else and we’ve had a heightened presence at most of the schools all week long,” Miller said.
Investigators say all campuses are safe. Coleman, Rock Creek and Tishomingo schools are among some other local schools that have been named in TikTok posts.
Difficult to tell what’s real
Miller said advances in artificial intelligence have made it harder to immediately identify what is real and what is fake.
“With AI and chatgpt it’s real easy to just ask chat to do it and it does it,” Miller said.
Miller said the trend is not a joke, and participating in it could lead to criminal charges.
“It can be a terroristic threat which is if the school feels fear from the statement and that is an arrestable offense,” Miller said.
Advice for parents
Miller said parents should monitor their children’s online activity.
“See what they’re into, everybody’s got a cell phone it’s real easy to look into things and you just gotta be vigilant,” Miller said.
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