NEED TO KNOW
\nArizona authorities used artificial intelligence to help identify human remains discovered in a remote area in December 2024After seeing the AI-generated image of what he would have looked like alive, Ronald Woolf, 55, was quickly identified as the John DoeAn investigation into his death is ongoing<\/p>\n
Authorities in Arizona used artificial intelligence to help identify a man whose remains were found late last year.\n<\/p>\n
In December 2024, a passerby found the partially decomposed and unclothed remains in a remote desert area near the San Joaquin Trailhead, according to KOLD-13<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n When police arrived at the scene, they confirmed that the remains belonged to a man \u2014 but that was all they knew for sure, reported ABC affiliate KGUN-TV<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n After months of unsuccessful attempts to identify him using fingerprints and DNA, Pima County Sheriff\u2019s Department detective Pedro Carranco\u00a0decided to see if AI could help them figure out what the man would have looked like while he was still alive.\n<\/p>\n Armed with a sketch rendering of the John Doe, he used an online AI program to come up with the image, which was then handed out to a number of local media outlets, reported the Arizona Daily Star.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n “I just input ‘show me what this sketch would look like as a Caucasian male with blonde hair and some white facial hair,’ ” said Carranco, according to NBC affiliate KVOA<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Ronald Woolf sketch.<\/p>\n Pima County Sheriff’s Department\/Facebook<\/p>\n It didn’t take long before they got a response.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIn less than five, 10 hours of you posting it on your news sites\u2019 stations, we had that call that said, \u2018I think I know who that is,\u2019 \u201d Pima County Sherif Chris Nanos said during a press conference, according to KGUN-TV.\n<\/p>\n As soon as they saw the image, the family of 55-year-old Ronald Woolf immediately recognized him.\n<\/p>\n “What’s clear is that without that…AI-generated photo, I don’t know if we would have ever identified Mr. Woolf,” the sheriff said during the press conference.\n<\/p>\n