OREM, Utah — Some of the photos in this story are real.
Some of them are fake.
Police are continuing to search for the person who shot and killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Wednesday in Orem at Utah Valley University.
On Thursday, the FBI shared two photos, asking for the public's help to identify a "person of interest."
Some people thought the images were too blurry, so they attempted to "enhance" or "clean up" the photos with artificial intelligence.
This resulted in fake photos, not "enhanced" photos. In some cases, the photos have fooled local law enforcement.
"Much clearer image of the suspect compared to others we have seen in the media," wrote the Washington County Sheriff's Office page on Facebook.
The image is "much clearer" because it is fake.
The fake photo shared by the sheriff's office shows clear signs of AI generation, including a distorted image of a USA flag on the shirt. The tool used to create the image also added a watch on the man's left wrist, which isn't seen on any of the authentic FBI photos.
The post was shared more than 1,000 times.
The Washington County Sheriff's Office later added a disclaimer to the post, stating the image "appears to be an AI enhanced photo" which "may distort glasses, shirt decals, and make skin appear waxey and ultra smooth."
The sheriff declined to remove the fake image.
"After finding out it was AI still leaving the post up???" asked a commenter.
"We do not delete post," WCSO wrote. "As a government agency that is highly discouraged."
"Researching sources before you post is also discouraged I guess," responded the commenter.
Experts interviewed by FOX 13 News said fake, AI-generated images of a suspect or person of interest should not be shared by anyone, especially by law enforcement.
Jim Bueermann is the former chief of the Redlands Police Department. He also serves as president of the Future Policing Institute and the Center on Police and AI.
"In a case like this, I think they probably have an obligation to delete that," he said. "You are hampering the criminal investigation, even though that may not be your intent, because now you are looking at somebody other than who the suspect is."
Some of the fake photos show a FOX 13 News watermark in the corner, even though the photos were not created or distributed by our news organization. This is presumably because the AI tool used to generate the fake images originally received an authentic watermarked image as its source material.
One of the fake photos shows a man wearing black shoes and black laces, even though the FBI photo seems to show a person of interest wearing black shoes with white laces.
Another Facebook user uploaded a similar photo: "Here is an AI clean up of the image."
Bueermann reiterated that AI cannot simply "clean up" blurry photos.
Instead, it generates images and fabricates details.
"That is a perfect example of why this is so problematic," Bueerman said. "People who think they're helping should stop doing this because they're doing exactly the opposite."
Bueerman rejected the idea that AI-generated images are similar to a police sketch. He believes the fake photos will lead to the FBI wasting resources and receiving false information. He also believes some people might be hesitant to call police if the suspect they have in mind does not match an AI-generated photo that received more "shares" than the real photo.
EMBED: REAL PHOTOS
If you have any information on the shooting of Charlie Kirk, you're asked to please call 1 800 CALL FBI.