AI mocked as it ‘unveils’ Jack the Ripper’s face | indy100

Related video: The identity of Jack the Ripper

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It remains one of the most mysterious cases in British criminal history, but the increasingly troubling technology that is artificial intelligence (AI) has shared its impression of what the Victorian serial killer known as Jack the Ripper may have looked like, but Twitter/X users aren’t really buying it.

The murderer, who was never identified or apprehended by police, is associated with the “canonical five” killings of Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly, who were attacked in Whitechapel between August and November of 1888.

His true identity has long been subject to speculation and analysis. Back in 2014, a book claimed the killer was a 23-year-old Polish barber called Aaron Kosminski. In 2022, a cane resurfaced which reportedly features the face of the criminal.

A year later, an ex-police volunteer whose grandfather worked on the Ripper investigation made the case for the murderer being Hyam Hyams, a cigar maker.

Needless to say, there remains little consensus on exactly who the Ripper was.

But seeing as we’re now in the age where AI can accidentally invent an unknown fifth member of pop group The Beatles, of course it wasn’t going to be long before it was given the prompt to create the face of Jack the Ripper.

And when the New York Post shared the results on Saturday, Twitter/X users soon ridiculed the outlet’s description of the art (they legitimately said “there’s a new-old serial hottie in town” – yes, really), and the art itself:

I must admit I never thought such revolutionary technology would be so incredibly tedious, and yet
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Jack the Ripper\u2019s face finally revealed \u2014 here\u2019s what AI thinks the notorious killer looked like
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Jack the Ripper\u2019s face finally revealed \u2014 here\u2019s how AI reasoned the notoriously dreamy killer would look
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@nypost \u2018Finally revealed\u2019 as if it was definitive. \n\nNext line: \u2018what ai thinks\u2019.
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True Crime and it\u2019s consequences have been a disaster for the human race
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"Here's what AI thinks"
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- finally revealed\n- here\u2019s what ai thinks\n\noutstanding journalism
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When the solar flares start knocking out our internet connections, we will deserve it
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the only thing this guy would be doing in the east end is queuing outside Rough Trade
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this is it. this is the post that turned me into the joker
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Even the Community Note on the Post’s tweet rubbished the impression, writing: “Saying ‘finally revealed’ is a stretch. This is not his face, and presenting AI photos as a fact is harmful.

“We do not know what Jack the Ripper looks like – he has only been described by an eyewitness as ‘a fair-haired man of medium build with a shabby appearance.”

Others made the important point that we really shouldn’t be glamourising and sensationalising one of the most horrific murderers in history:

'Dashing...dangerously dreamy' Oh piss off @nypost !\n\nThis isn't the face of the unknown woman killer 'finally revealed', and we have had enough already of sexualising and glamourising violence to women.
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In the first Victorian lit lecture I give every Spring, I make a point of stating that we won't be dwelling on Jack the Ripper, because he was a repulsive nobody of no great historical importance. If students are curious, I tell them to read Hallie Rubenhold's "The Five" instead.
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Just a reminder that 5 women were brutally murdered.\n\nJust because it happened 130+ years ago doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s now \u2018fun to make light of\u2019.\n\n\u2018Jack the Ripper\u2019 should be a shameful element of our past & how we cared more about selling a story than stopping a criminal.
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a) AI has no idea what Jack the Ripper looked like\nb) fuck off with this glamourising of a violent killer: "Move over, Ted Bundy \u2014 there\u2019s a new-old serial hottie in town."
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Just another reason to be just a little bit alarmed by the rise of AI – you’re welcome.

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