Apparent AI-generated photos send Newark police on monkey manhunt
The Health Department said the city initially received a 311 tip about several monkeys near the dumpsters at Georgia King Village apartments.
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An image showing several monkeys at an apartment complex in Newark went viral Thursday, but according to Newark Public Safety, the picture was entirely fake.
The Health Department said the city initially received a 311 tip about several monkeys near the dumpsters at Georgia King Village apartments.
The tip contained a photo of the supposed monkeys.
Police and animal control searched the area for the better part of the early afternoon.
However, they ultimately determined the incident was likely a hoax.
"Use AI for the right things, not something like this, because when something really does happen, officers are going to take their time coming out because it could possibly be AI, something that's false," Harriette Guity, who works near the building where the monkeys were reported, said.
Newark Public Safety determined this image was likely created with AI.
"Having the police come over here for something that's not really real. It's wasting their time when they could be doing other things with their time, and I just think that we need to use ai the right way and not play around too much and make things bigger than what it is," Richard Chapman, a Newark resident, said.
Newark Animal Control also responded to a similar report Wednesday.
The agency was not able to confirm the presence of any monkeys loose or caged then either, but Thursday's incident remains under investigation.
