CHICAGO () — A Chicago woman says artificial intelligence helped her track down the man she alleges assaulted her this summer.
“I saw his picture,” Zoe Threlkeld said. “I used reverse Google Images to try to look for the background of it.”
Threlkeld said she met Isaiah Del Toro at a River North bar in June and later invited him back to her apartment. She said she eventually told him to leave.
According to Threlkeld, that was when Del Toro attacked her, took her phone and struck her with a cooking pot. She suffered injuries that required staples.
“Even while he was hitting me, I was trying to grab things, fight back and do whatever I could,” Threlkeld said.
Armed only with Del Toro’s nickname and a Facebook profile she believed belonged to him, Threlkeld decided to ask ChatGPT for help.
She said she uploaded one of the images from his Facebook profile and asked ChatGPT to identify a brownstone shown in the background, which included a visible number. “By the time I went to the police, I had everything,” Threlkeld said. “I had his phone number, his first and last name, his address—everything.”
Del Toro has since been taken into custody.
Court records show that he faces charges of aggravated battery, robbery and theft.
Alex Hamerstone, a cybersecurity expert with TrustedSec, said the case illustrates how technology can aid an investigation. “Using modern technology to help police locate and identify someone is fascinating,” he said.
Threlkeld’s experience comes as lawmakers, researchers and technology critics continue debating whether the rapid development of artificial intelligence should be slowed.
Last week, whistleblower Jacob Coxon warned that AI could pose a threat to human life by the end of the decade.
“The possibilities are enormous,” Hamerstone said. “We’re still at an early point, and those possibilities include both major benefits and potentially serious risks.”
Del Toro is scheduled to return to court Oct. 6.
Threlkeld said she is relieved that he remains in custody.
“It’s 2026, and technology is advancing all the time. You can learn so much about people, so I thought, ‘Why not try it?'” Threlkeld said.
