Viewers are feeling duped after accusations Netflix used AI in new crime doc
Netflix has been accused of using AI-generated images in a new true crime documentary that captivated viewers across the globe.
Take a quick look at the Netflix Top 10, and you'll find that crime stories are just as popular as ever.
The documentary What Jennifer Did is still ranking high as viewers are keen to get a truthful insight to the crimes of Jennifer Pan - but now accusations have emerged suggesting not all of the material featured in the documentary is authentic.
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Released on 10 April, What Jennifer Did details the life and downfall of Pan, a supposed university graduate living with her parents in a quiet Canadian town in 2010.
Using new interviews, photographs and police tapes, the documentary details how Pan's parents disapproved of her relationship with her boyfriend; how she lied to them about going to university for years, and what happened on the night she called 911 to report intruders in her home.
The documentary leads viewers through a tale of twists and turns - but the latest twist has emerged this week in a report from Futurism, which suggested some images of Pan may have been manipulated.
One particular image in question shows Pan grinning and throwing a 'peace' sign to the camera; an image shown in the doc as Pan's high school friend, Nam Nguyen, describes her as 'bubbly, happy, confident, and very genuine'.
The image looks like a typical photo of a young woman - but upon closer inspection, Pan’s left hand appears to be missing a thumb, ring finger and small finger.
On her right hand, she appears to be missing her other pinky finger, and some of her other fingers are blurred into the palm of her hand.
The discrepancies in the photos lead some to believe there has been at least some AI manipulation, but Netflix has not commented on the matter at the time of writing (19 April).
As has been pointed out previously in AI-generated images, hands can often be a clear indicator of manipulation as it can be hard for the technology to correctly produce limbs and fingers.
After Pan's unusual hand formations were pointed out, internet users expressed their outrage and claimed whoever had manipulated the image had 'crossed a line'.
"AI doesn’t belong in filmmaking," one X user wrote, as another responded: "Not in a documentary anyway. Maybe sci-fi or cartoons or something, but definitely not a true crime story."
"This should be illegal," another commented.
UNILAD has contacted Netflix for comment.
Full timeline of the Jennifer Pan case:
Jennifer hires hitmen to kill her parents
In the hopes of inheriting a $500,000 (£393,000) fortune and getting rid of her pushy parents, in November 2010 Jennifer, 24 at the time, enlisted the help of hitmen to kill her parents.
What appeared at first to be an armed robbery - with the three men demanding that the married couple hand over all of their money - soon evolved into a brutal killing, after the group took Jennifer's parents down into the basement and shot them on 8 November.
Her mother Bich was instantly killed upon impact, while her father managed to survive the ordeal.
The 9/11 call that changed everything
Jennifer frantically called 911 to report the crime, but police soon began to poke holes in her story about how the incident unfolded - especially as she was left unharmed and was somehow able to call 911, despite her hands supposedly being bound.
Jennifer becomes a suspect
An in-depth police investigation ultimately led to Jennifer as the police's main suspect.
Authorities were particularly alarmed when they learned that Jennifer had managed to fool her parents into believing she was attending university in Toronto for a number of years.
Jennifer's lies crumble and double life is exposed
The naturally average-achieving student claims she was consistently pressured by her parents to achieve top-notch grades, become an Olympic athlete, a martial arts professional and an award-winning musician.
Their pressure supposedly came at such an extent that Jennifer actually faked studying at university, creating false documents and forged loan letters.
Jennifer is jailed
On 13 December, 2014, Pan was found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder. She was sentenced the following year to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
Her co-conspirators Daniel Chi-Kwong Wong, David Mylvaganam and Lenford Roy Crawford were convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder in December 2014 and sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
Eric Shawn "Sniper" Carty was given an 18-year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit murder, with eligibility for parole after nine years. He passed away in prison in 2018.
Jennifer’s 2023 appeal
Last year, Pan was granted a new trial for the murder of her mother.
It was found that the original judge in her trial had made an error by telling the jury they were only to consider first-degree murder, instead of also being able to consider second-degree murder or manslaughter.
At the time of writing, Canada’s Supreme Court is still undecided on whether it will hear the case.
Topics: Netflix, Crime, Film and TV, Artificial Intelligence, Technology
Emily Brown