"A man who has been arrested on suspicion of starting the deadly Palisades Fire that destroyed thousands of homes and killed a dozen people in Los Angeles last year allegedly used ChatGPT to generate images of burning forests and cities, according to law enforcement officials. The suspect in custody, 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, was arrested near his home in Florida on Tuesday for destruction of property by means of fire, acting US Attorney Bill Essayli told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday."
"Soon, Rinderknecht turned to an AI chatbot for advice. Shortly after starting the fire after midnight, prosecutors allege, he tried calling 911 several times because of bad reception to report the fire. When he finally got through to an operator, he typed a question into ChatGPT, OpenAI's chatbot. "Are you at fault if a fire is [lit] because of your cigarettes," Rinderknecht allegedly asked the AI model, per an affidavit quoted by the Los Angeles Times."
"That night before the New Year, Rinderknecht had been working as an Uber driver, prosecutors say in a complaint. Two of his passengers told investigators that he seemed angry and agitated. After dropping off his last customer in the Palisades, Rinderknecht drove to the Skull Rock trailhead, and then walked to a clearing on the hilltop that a friend said he frequently visited."
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was arrested near his Florida home and charged with destruction of property by means of fire. Federal prosecutors allege he started an eight-acre blaze called the Lachman fire in the early hours of New Year's Day. Firefighters initially extinguished the blaze, but it rekindled days later and grew into the Pacific Palisades inferno that destroyed thousands of homes and killed a dozen people, causing hundreds of billions of dollars in damages. The suspect reportedly used ChatGPT to generate images of burning forests and cities and queried the chatbot about fault for fires caused by cigarettes.
Read at Futurism
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