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Kevin Riford
Recently, I received a troubling email from an individual alleging that audio and video recordings of me would be used of me. According to the message, there are plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to replicate my voice—and potentially generate video likenesses of me.
The sender claimed that the true purpose behind the creation of a podcast which I have appeared on roughly 15-20 times was to gather extended audio and video footage of me, which would then be used to create AI deep fakes. However, it doesn’t mention the specific intent, it sounds nefarious.
This message was sent to Kevin Riford under the subject of “John Restaino Podcast – They plan on AI’ing your voice/video.” The email also included details related to a podcast I have appeared on at least 15 times for around 1 hr each podcast.
Pictured: E-mail sent to Kevin Riford regarding “AI” of voice/video
Pictured: YouTube screenshot of Kevin Riford (far right) on “Citizens United” podcast.
Below is the information for the the YouTube channel Kevin Riford has appeared on.
Prior to this e-mail I received an e-mail a few weeks before demanding I pay bitcoin and showing a screen shot of my desktop. Clearly, someone is trying to get my attention. I called the FBI to report this and they stated to not pay the ransom, which I agreed not to do. I also reported to the FBI the email claiming that my voice/video would be AI’ed.
I’ve called the FBI to report these extortion emails, however, it doesn’t sound like they are going to do much about it, so I am documenting it here, and will have it archived on other websites as well.
Below is the video of me calling the FBI to report the “AI podcast warning”.