Michael Williams Jailed for Murder Based Solely on ShotSpotter AI Alert, No Corroborating Evidence
Incident Details
Summary
In 2021, Michael Williams was jailed in Chicago and charged with first-degree murder after police relied on a ShotSpotter alert as the primary evidence linking him to the scene of Safarian Herring's death. ShotSpotter uses an AI algorithm and a network of microphones to triangulate gunshot locations, but an Associated Press investigation found the system is deeply statistically unreliable. Williams spent months incarcerated while prosecutors built their case around the AI-generated alert. The case became a landmark example of how AI-generated evidence, presented as objective fact, can substitute for genuine investigative work and cause catastrophic harm to innocent people. Charges were ultimately dropped after evidence failed to corroborate the ShotSpotter alert.
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