Police departments issue warnings on AI 'homeless man' prank
A viral trend involving artificially generated images of a "homeless man" has prompted police warnings over safety concerns, with officials calling it "stupid and potentially dangerous."
The trend uses AI image generators to create realistic photos depicting a disheveled man appearing to be at someone's door or inside their home.
In the videos, pranksters send these AI-generated photos to friends or relatives. The recipients' panicked reactions, sometimes resulting in emergency calls, are then recorded and posted online for entertainment and "likes."
Police departments in Michigan, New York and Wisconsin have issued public warnings about the AI prank.
The Yonkers Police Department in New York posted an AI-generated image demonstrating the prank on Facebook , noting that the prank has happened "a few times" already.
"Here’s the problem: officers are responding FAST using lights-and-sirens to what sounds like a call of a real intruder — and only getting called off once everyone realizes it was a joke," the police department wrote on Facebook. "That’s not just a waste of resources… it’s a real safety risk for officers who are responding and for the family members who are home if our officers get there before the prank is revealed and rush into the home to apprehend this 'intruder' that doesn't exist."
The Salem Police Department in Massachusetts also issued an alert earlier this month after receiving multiple 911 calls linked to the prank.
Salem Police Capt. John Burke told "Good Morning America" that the prank is "eliciting a lot of fear." He said the department has investigated three incidents so far, all of which involved people genuinely believing a break-in was happening.
In one case, Burke said a person thought a relative had picked up a hitchhiker who was now threatening them, prompting a 911 call from someone who had no idea the situation was a prank. Burke emphasized that the prank wastes emergency resources and can easily lead to dangerous misunderstandings.
"You're causing your friends or your family to panic," he said. "You're tying up a police, public safety answering point, a 911, dispatch center. You're wasting the police resources."
Burke added, of the police response, "There is the chance when you know we're responding to these incidents, we don't know at first if it's real, we have to handle every situation like it's a potential real situation."
In its warning, the Salem Police Department also condemned the prank for dehumanizing the homeless and spreading fear for entertainment.
The department warned that pranksters could face criminal charges under Massachusetts law for making false reports to emergency services, even if no one is hurt.
Burke urged social media users to think twice before participating in trends that could endanger others.
"If you're thinking this is funny, or you're thinking this is something you may want to try, please think twice, on behalf of friends and family," he said. "And then also, don't, don't, don't risk it, you getting yourself in trouble, or having to go to court, being charged with this ... it's easily preventable."
