Citizens and AI could revolutionise policing
In the media image: Dmitrii Shirnin on Unsplash+
A Dutch citizens' collective used AI to help identify a new suspect in a cold case. Bart Custers, Professor of Law and Data Science, commented in the ‘Brabants Dagblad’: 'Just like detective work, mistakes can be made.'
Citizens' collective Bureau Dupin was able to identify a new suspect in the 13-year-old murder case of Marja Nijholt in Oss with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). 'The fact that citizens interfere in police matters and help investigate a case is nothing new. What’s different here is the use of AI,' Bart Custers explains. 'AI increases the effectiveness enormously and might force a breakthrough in a case that’s been stuck for years. It could be that unexpected, new facts arise that people overlooked before.'
At the same time, he warns of the risks. 'Just like traditional detective work, mistakes can be made. One clear risk is the presentation of evidence in court and the principle of innocence: a person is innocent until proven guilty.' Privacy concerns also play a role: 'AI programs are fed with sensitive information in these cases. It ends up in the hands of US tech companies. They can do whatever they want with it – different laws apply than here. From a legal point of view this could involve data leaks, which are subject to high fines.'
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Read the full article in Brabants Dagblad (€, in Dutch)