West Midlands Police Chief Apologizes for AI Error in Fan Ban

West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford has apologized to members of Parliament for providing incorrect evidence about the intelligence that led to a ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending a Europa League match against Aston Villa in Birmingham on November 6.

In a letter to the Home Affairs Committee, Guildford explained that he and Assistant Chief Constable Mike O'Hara had mistakenly attributed a key error in their briefing to a simple Google search. The mistake involved referencing a nonexistent match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham United, which Guildford now attributes to the use of the artificial intelligence tool Microsoft Copilot. "Both ACC O'Hara and I had, up until Friday afternoon, understood that the West Ham match had only been identified through the use of Google," Guildford wrote. He added, "I would like to offer my profound apology to the Committee for this error, both on behalf of myself and that of ACC O'Hara. My belief that this was the case was honestly held and there was no intention to mislead the Committee."

The flawed intelligence formed part of the advice given by West Midlands Police to the local Safety Advisory Group, which includes...