A man who had reportedly sent complaint emails generated by artificial intelligence (AI) to a council has pleaded guilty to making false statements.
The businessman, Aldo d’Aponte, had written the objection letters using the alias of his neighbours in an attempt to prevent Heaven nightclub from reopening.
Westminster City Council received the complaints via an encrypted email address during the hearing about the club’s future, with a planning lawyer later investigating the letters.
The police found that the letters were likely produced by AI, as the neighbours that allegedly wrote the complaints either did not exist, or did not live at the addresses stated in the communications.
It has also been confirmed by the Metropolitan police that cases of AI-generated complaints from non-existent people are becoming more frequent, according to The Guardian.
Mr d’Aponte has since pleaded guilty to writing the two letters and expressed regret about the incident. His lawyer said that he and his husband had been ‘suffering for some eight years by the constant nuisance caused by the venue’, with the club’s temporary closure offering them ‘a very much needed relief of constant sleep and peace. The prospect of the licence being reinstated was a real concern’.
He was granted a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £85 costs, as well as a £26 victim surcharge.
Westminster City Council has been contacted for comment.
