Father, daughter speak after Lyft driver is accused of using AI-generated image for damage claim
A father and daughter are speaking out after a recent Lyft ride resulted in a driver being accused of submitting an AI-generated image for a damage claim.
Bert Gor of Florida said his teenage daughter and a friend took a Lyft home from the beach on Saturday, May 16. After they arrived back at the house, Gor said he was alerted that he had been charged a $75 damage fee, in addition to the rideshare cost, for an alleged mess the driver claimed the teens had left behind in the car.
"In my mind, I'm thinking, 'These girls are grounded for the whole weekend,'" Gor told "Good Morning America" in an interview airing Wednesday.
Gor said he began communicating with Lyft customer service and asked to see proof. He said he was then sent a photo of the alleged mess that customer service said came from the driver.
The photo Gor said he received depicts the interior of a car with what appears to be a beverage and french fries spilled across the backseat and carpet.
Upon viewing the photo, Gor said his daughter Ella spotted an AI logo in the bottom righthand corner of the photo, which she said tipped her off that the image was allegedly AI-generated.
"I saw that it was the AI logo, and I was like, 'That is fake. It's not real,'" Ella said, speaking with "GMA" alongside her dad.
Gor said he noted the watermark to Lyft, which ultimately agreed with the pair's assessment that the photo was fake and apologized to Gor.
In a statement to ABC News on Tuesday, a Lyft spokesperson said, "Lyft takes damage disputes seriously and reviews each matter based on the available information. We have reviewed the rider's concerns, offered reimbursement, and permanently removed the driver from the platform."
Speaking with "GMA," Ella recounted her initial shock at the situation and expressed concern that others might fall victim to similar scams if they aren't able to spot watermarks or other telltale signs of generative AI.
"How are you just going to take advantage of a kid like that, knowing that most people normally wouldn't recognize if they didn't see the charge?" she said.
When Gor posted about the situation on a community Facebook page, he said several people shared that they had encountered similar experiences. He said he is now urging the public to keep their eyes peeled for random damage fees.
