TUCSON, Ariz. – Officials with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department say they now know the identity of a man who they generated an AI image of earlier this month.
What we know:
In a statement released on Aug. 22, PCSD identified the man as 55-year-old old Ronald Woolf.
“This case is being investigated as a possible homicide from December 2024,” read a portion of the brief statement.
The backstory:
According to our initial report on the matter, Woolf’s remains were found in late 2024 near the San Joaquin Trailhead, when a passerby saw a body in a remote area. The remains were partially decomposed, and he had no clothing on.
While a sketch of the man was previously made, the AI-generated image looks more realistic than the sketch. At the time the sketch was made, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said this is the first time the department used AI in such a way.
“This is the first we’ve used it. I don’t know that anybody’s done this,” said Sheriff Nanos. “This was literally a detective who sat at his computer and entered a sketch into AI, and started a ChatGPT with that AI, saying, ‘hey, what can you tell me about this individual?’”
Dig deeper:
According to officials, Detective Pedro Carranco put a sketch of the remain’s face into ChatGPT, and asked it to create an image of a white male, 40 to 50 years old, with blond hair and some white facial hair.
Authorities say someone called with a tip within 10 hours after the story went out.
“What’s clear is that without that AI-generated photo, I dont know that we would identify Mr. Woolf,” said Det. Carranco.
What we don’t know:
It remains unclear how Woolf died.
According to Det. Carranco, an autopsy lists the death as “undetermined.”
What’s next:
An investigation remains ongoing for this case.
Crime and Public SafetyArtificial IntelligenceTucsonNews