Police chief apologises after AI error used to justify Maccabi Tel Aviv ban (www.theguardian.com)

The chief of West Midlands police, Craig Guildford, publicly apologized to MPs after revealing that an AI error contributed to the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from attending a match against Aston Villa. Guildford clarified that the misinformation stemmed from the use of Microsoft Copilot, which incorrectly generated the existence of a fictitious match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham, leading to erroneous intelligence being used by a council-led security advisory group to justify the ban. Initially, Guildford had asserted that the police did not utilize AI in this capacity, attributing the error to “one individual doing one Google search.” This incident highlights significant concerns regarding the reliability of AI technologies in decision-making processes, particularly in high-stakes environments such as law enforcement. The integration of AI tools like Microsoft Copilot needs careful oversight, as they can inadvertently produce misleading information that can affect public safety decisions and actions. The upcoming statement from Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood regarding a report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary will further explore the implications of this mistake and its impact on police protocols regarding the use of AI in intelligence gathering.