He Was Jailed Because an Algorithm Misidentified His Face. Now His Photograph Hangs in the Smithsonian. - Washingtonian

"The National Portrait Gallery is Jared Soares's favorite museum. It's just a few Metro stops away from the photographer's home in Northeast DC, and he says he's visited dozens of times to admire the works from his favorite artists. But Soares's next visit will be different. The second floor of the gallery now features Soares's award-winning photograph, Misidentified by Artificial Intelligence: Alonzo and Carronne (2023)."

"The portrait depicts Alonzo Sawyer, a Maryland resident who was falsely accused of a crime and arrested after being misidentified by facial recognition software. He said it's a warning to the dangers of surveillance, while also a nod to love and intimacy of relationships. "It's an image about tenderness," he said. "but also the danger of AI, facial technology, and algorithms. I hope people will start to consider that we need more oversight and thoughtful decision making with this technology.""

"The photograph was originally a commission for a 2023 New Yorker story about Sawyer, who was misidentified by a Maryland Transit Administration algorithm while authorities searched for the assailant of a local bus driver. The algorithm created a composite that resembled Sawyer's face, making the Maryland resident-who was in a different county at the time of the assault-a primary person of interest. When he went to traffic court for an unrelated minor infraction a few days later, US Marshals slammed him against a wall."

Misidentified by Artificial Intelligence: Alonzo and Carronne (2023) appears on the National Portrait Gallery's second floor after winning second prize in the 2025 Outwin Boochever portrait competition. The portrait shows Alonzo Sawyer, who was misidentified by a Maryland Transit Administration facial-recognition algorithm that produced a composite resembling him while authorities searched for a local bus-driver assailant. Sawyer was detained by US Marshals at traffic court, slammed against a wall, and jailed for nine days without bail. The image pairs tenderness and intimacy with a warning about surveillance, AI facial technology, and algorithms and advocates increased oversight and thoughtful decision making.

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