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Netflix Slammed For Using AI-Generated Images In True Crime Documentary

Netflix has received tons of backlash after it was accused for blatantly using AI-generated images in the true crime documentary What Jennifer Did. By: Kritchanon Tan Kian Wei

US - Netflix has come under fire for supposedly using AI-generated images in its new true crime documentary What Jennifer Did, the recently released 90-minute documentary that details the crimes Jennifer Pan committed, such as plotting to hire hitmen to kill her parents.

Around 28 minutes into the film, a series of photos that depict Pan making peace signs are shown on-screen, though upon closer inspection, clear signs of image manipulation can be seen, particularly around Pan’s hands, which show fingers unnaturally mashed or fused with her palms. Given that hands are one common area that AI image generators are known to mess up, viewers immediately started accusing Netflix for using AI-generated images in a true crime documentary, saying that the use of AI-generated images was unethical given that it was for a non-fiction project and that its use was undisclosed.

Additionally, given the facts of the case and the way the media presented Jennifer Pan, seeing Pan as confident and happy in the images set off alarm bells for those familiar or close to the case, who claimed that what the supposedly AI-generated images depicted were uncharacteristic of the Jennifer Pan they were familiar with. Pan, who was convicted of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, had extremely controlling parents, and at the age of 22, had never “gone to a club, been drunk, visited a friends’ cottage or gone on vacation without her family.”

Netflix has yet to respond to the accusations. The backlash comes after a similar controversy, when film studio A24 was caught sharing AI-generated images on Instagram to promote its newest film Civil War.

What Jennifer Did is now streaming on Netflix.

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