Almaty official used AI to fake cleanup report, vice minister says tool not to blame
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
An employee of the Almaty akimat used artificial intelligence to fabricate a cleanup report, attaching AI-generated photos of a clean site where trash remained. Vice Minister of AI and Digital Development Gizzat Baitursynov said the AI was merely a tool and responsibility lies with the person who failed to do the work. The official spoke at a government briefing after the incident drew public attention in May.
Key Facts
- The incident began on May 14, when a resident posted photos of trash near School No. 125 in Almaty and asked the Bostandyk district akimat to clean it up.
- The akimat's official account replied that the issue was resolved and attached a photo of a clean area, but the social network flagged the image as AI-generated or altered.
- After the story went public, the akimat launched an internal investigation, fined the contractor responsible for the site, and removed the trash.
- In June, the civil servant admitted to using AI, and the akimat terminated his employment contract.
- Vice Minister Gizzat Baitursynov said at a government briefing that AI 'will never replace people' and will always act as an assistant to citizens.
The Fake Report
An employee of the Almaty akimat used artificial intelligence to fabricate a report on completed work. He did not remove trash from one site but added AI-generated photos to the report showing the area already cleaned. The generated photos showed no trash, making the report appear as if the work had been done. People who compared the photos with the actual site were surprised by the discrepancy.
Official Response
Vice Minister of AI and Digital Development Gizzat Baitursynov commented on the case at a government briefing. He said the AI was only a tool and responsibility lies with the person who did not do the work. Baitursynov stated that AI can speed up work, automate processes, and filter large amounts of information, but the final decision remains with a human. He added that he had nothing more to say on the matter.
How Easy It Was
No outstanding skills were needed to create the fake image. Digital Business demonstrated that Gemini can generate a similar image in under a minute. The free generation of the needed image took less than 30 seconds, with about the same time to formulate a simple prompt. The example used the prompt: 'Do not change anything in the landscape. Just clean up the trash around the tree and put it next to it in a black bag.'
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