What Jennifer Did, the new Netflix true crime documentary surrounding convicted murderer Jennifer Pan, quickly made its way into Netflix’s Top 10 films since its release last Wednesday (April 10). However, a new report from Futurism reveals that the doc may have employed pictures of Pan that were manipulated by artificial intelligence.
Pan was convicted of a kill-for-hire conspiracy against her parents in 2010, which resulted in the death of her mother and dire injuries for her father, including a medically-induced coma.
At approximately 28 minutes into the film, viewers meet Pan’s high school friend, Nam Nguyen, who recalls his relationship with Pan and says that “she was great to talk to.”
“Jennifer, you know, was bubbly, happy, confident, and very genuine,” he explains, as three pictures of Pan appear in succession.
The latter two pictures in particular have come under scrutiny: items in the background of one picture, in which Pan is holding up two peace signs, appear distorted. Her fingers and hands also look altered.
In the third picture, one of her front teeth appears much longer than the other, her left ear looks warped, and her right cheek has a gap in it.
According to 404 Media, the use of AI is not acknowledged in the doc’s credits, either.
Decider reached out to Netflix for comment, but did not hear back by time of publication
This certainly isn’t the first time that keen observers have brought attention to AI being employed in a film. Other projects have come under fire for the use of AI, such as Late Night with the Devil, which hit theaters on March 22.
The directors eventually confirmed to Variety in an exclusive statement that they “experimented with AI for three still images which [they] edited further and ultimately appear as very brief interstitials in the film.”
However, as reported by Futurism, What Jennifer Did is a documentary, not a work of fiction, making the use of AI even more questionable, especially in its portrayal of Pan, who despite currently serving a life sentence in prison, may be eligible for parole 25 years following when her sentence was made.
What Jennifer Did is now streaming on Netflix.
