What Happens When “Helpful” Witnesses Use ChatGPT

Regular readers of our newsletter know that we, at STB Integrity, have a deep interest in emerging technology. We’ve previously explored how AI is reshaping the future of investigations and integrity work, and how different AI tools can support our efforts.

From conversations with integrity professionals around the world, one common concern consistently arises: the possibility that subjects of investigation may use AI to derail or distort an inquiry—through deepfake images, falsified documents, or other generative tools.

However, ChatGPT isn’t just a threat in the hands of bad actors fabricating evidence or impersonating others. Sometimes, as we recently discovered, it’s used by those who appear to be helping us — individuals we might classify as Engaged Insiders in the Witness Matrix, sitting squarely in the “high knowledge, high cooperation” quadrant.

And that’s where our story begins.

We were conducting interviews in an internal misconduct investigation involving programmatic irregularities. Among the individuals we interviewed was a staff member who had been identified early as a potential witness. Their role placed them in close proximity to the events in question, and their name had come up in multiple initial reports.