Savannah Guthrie’s demand for mom’s ‘proof of life’ is complicated in this era of AI and deepfakes

When Savannah Guthrie made a heart-wrenching plea to the kidnapper of her 84-year-old mother to send “proof of life,” she addressed the possibility of people creating deepfakes.

“We live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated,” she said.

Before artificial intelligence tools proliferated — making it possible to realistically impersonate someone, in photos, sound and video — “proof of life” could simply mean sending a grainy image of a person who’s been abducted.

That’s no longer true.

“With AI these days you can make videos that appear to be very real. So we can’t just take a video and trust that that’s proof of life because of advancements in AI,” Heith Janke, the FBI chief in Phoenix, said at a news conference Thursday.

Hoaxes — whether high or low-tech — have long challenged law enforcement, especially when it comes to high-profile cases such as Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance last weekend from her home in the Tucson area.

As technology has advanced, criminals have grown savvy and used it to their benefit, confusing police and the public and masking their identities. The FBI in December warned that people posing as kidnappers can provide what appears to be a real photo or video of a loved one, along with demands for money.

Police have not said that they have received any deepfake images of Guthrie. At least three news organizations have reported receiving purported ransom notes that they have given to investigators, who said they are taking them seriously.

Investigators said they believe she’s “still out there,” but they have not identified any suspects.

Separately, a California man was charged Thursday with sending text messages to the Guthrie family seeking bitcoin after following the case on television. There’s no indication that he’s suspected of having a role in the disappearance, according to a court filing.

She appeared in an emotional video on Instagram Wednesday, sitting in between her sister and brother. Her voice cracked as she spoke directly to the kidnapper, saying the family is “ready to talk” and “ready to listen” but also wanted to know that their mother is alive.

Images of Nancy Guthrie, publicly shared by family, could be used to create deepfakes, said former FBI agent Katherine Schweit.

She said ransom demands over history have evolved from phone calls and handwritten notes to email, texts and other digital tools. A century ago, ransom notes were analog. For example, when the toddler son of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped, a piece of paper demanding $50,000 was found on a windowsill.

“Investigative techniques accumulate over time,” Schweit said. “There’s never less to do as years go by; there’s more to do. Digital and forensic work is a perfect example. It just adds to the other shoe-leather work we would have done in years past. … Nothing can be dismissed. Everything has to be run to ground.”

Schweit said directly addressing a kidnapper, like Savannah Guthrie did in her video, is a tactical move.

“The goal is to have the family or law enforcement speak directly to the victim and the perpetrator, and ask the perpetrator: What do you need? How can we solve this? Let’s move this forward,” she said.

Janke suggested to reporters that the FBI may have had some influence on Guthrie’s decision to release a video message.

“We have an expertise when it comes to kidnappings, and when families want advice, consultation, expertise, we will provide that,” he said. “But the ultimate decisions — on what they say and how they put that out — rests with the family itself.”