ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN FORENSIC SCIENCE
Kamshad Mohsin1
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a significant and well-established branch of current computer
science that may frequently give a way of addressing computationally massive or difficult
issues in a reasonable time period. Digital forensics is a growing field in computing that
frequently necessitates the cognitive examination of massive volumes of complicated data.
As a result, it appears that AI is an appropriate technique for dealing with many of the present
difficulties in digital forensics. The goal of this study is to provide a high-level overview of
AI as it may be applied in digital forensics.
Key Words: Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Neural Network, Forensics, Data Analysis
and pattern recognition.
INTRODUCTION
Digital forensics is a new area that needs extensive computing and the processing of huge and
complicated data sets. Forensic investigation entails conducting extensive study, gathering
information from many sources, and then integrating it in order to reach logical conclusions.
While extracting such data from 'mysterious' sources may undoubtedly be a fruitful and
intriguing profession, dealing with enormous amounts of data can frequently be confusing
and chaotic. In this case, AI provides a useful tool for dealing with and resolving big data
sets.[3] During an investigation, AI can assist forensic specialists in properly managing data
and doing meta-analysis at multiple levels. This may save forensic investigators a significant
amount of time while also ensuring that they have adequate time and motivation to focus on
other vital duties!
FORENSIC SCIENCE
Forensic science is the application of scientific methods or expertise to the investigation of
crimes or the examination of evidence that may be submitted in a court of law. From
fingerprint and DNA analysis to anthropology and animal forensics, forensic science
1
Assistant Professor, Maharishi University of Information Technology.
[email protected],
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encompasses a wide range of subjects.[2] Despite their diverse backgrounds, all forensic
scientists confront the same set of problems.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The replication of human intellectual processes by machines, particularly computer systems,
is known as Artificial Intelligence. Expert systems, natural language processing, speech
recognition, and machine vision are some of the specific uses of AI.
AI systems function by consuming huge quantities of labelled training data, evaluating the
data for correlations and patterns, and then using these patterns to forecast future states. [7] In
this manner, a chatbot given text chat examples may learn to generate lifelike conversations
with people, or an image recognition programme can learn to identify and describe things in
photos by analysing millions of images.
AI IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
With fast technological progress in all disciplines, notably in the domains of investigation and
forensic science, Artificial Intelligence has effectively made its grand entrance into criminal
investigation.
Forensic investigation entails conducting extensive study, gathering information from many
sources, and then integrating it in order to reach logical conclusions. While extracting such
data from 'mysterious' sources may undoubtedly be a fruitful and intriguing profession,
dealing with enormous amounts of data can frequently be confusing and chaotic.
During an investigation, AI can assist forensic specialists in properly managing data and
doing meta-analysis at multiple levels. This may save forensic investigators a significant
amount of time while also ensuring that they have adequate time and motivation to focus on
other vital duties!
The acquired data must also be freely available to the parties involved, so that it may be
accessed at any moment as needed. AI technology may be used to prepare data repositories so
that it can be routinely stored in your systems and accessed as needed.
When it comes to criminal investigations, AI can be a great tool in many expects like -
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i. Data analysis and availability to support the investigation.
ii. Addressing well-scoped problems and methodology for cases.
iii. Pattern recognition.
iv. Explaining the reasoning process well.
v. Reducing the level of false-positive or false negatives during analysis is very common
in forensic science.
vi. Formally structuring the representation of knowledge which will also help the legal
community in fast and accurate solution.
vii. Having a well-organized performance evaluation.
viii. Data mining and knowledge discoveries.
ix. Building statistical evidence.
x. Integrating with current architecture, tools, and applications.
AI CAN HELP IN RECOGNIZING PATTERNS
As an investigator, you must be able to spot subtle connections in order to link and to
complete the picture. However, patterns may be quite particular and complicated at times,
making them difficult to follow. This is why investigators frequently rely on contemporary
technology to identify such trends.
AI technology can assist in pattern recognition, such as identifying different components of a
single image, detecting patterns in emails and messages, and matching new information with
various forms of existing data in system databases. [5]
It can also assist detectives in connecting suspect information with existing criminal records
and informing them of any past criminal conduct that the suspect in question may have been
involved in.
PROVIDING LEGAL SOLUTIONS
Forensic statistics offers scientific ways for dealing with evidence in the judicial system.
With more sophisticated and comprehensive information databases, AI can assist the legal
community with quick solutions when needed.
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IMPROVING COMMUNICATION
Forensic inquiry necessitates communication among forensic statisticians, attorneys, criminal
investigators, and other professionals. Miscommunication between these parties might result
in incorrect judgments or misinterpretation of data, resulting in delayed or incorrect justice.
AI assists in bridging the communication gap between various participants in this sector.
STATISTICAL EVIDENCE
Strong statistical evidence is used to support the narrative and arguments in forensic science.
AI can create graphical frameworks to aid in the creation of scenarios and case studies. It
may also be used to create graphical models of circumstances that can be used to establish or
refute claims, allowing the law to make better decisions. [6]
CREATING REPOSITORIES
AI can also assist in the creation of an online repository that would house all digital forensic
investigations, data, assets, and findings. With the exponential rate of growth of storage
capacity, such as USB, hard drives, optical media, and flash drives, it is getting more difficult
for forensic science investigators to store and evaluate all of this data. AI has the potential to
be a good tool to store, analyze and use this data for legal purposes. [4]
ADVANTAGES OF AI IN FORENCIS
In a forensic investigation, combining people and AI can offer a firm an advantage:
i. It implements automation, which saves substantial time and money while allowing
investigators to focus more on areas where fraud may occur.
ii. It assists businesses with detecting illegal behaviour from massive volumes of
unstructured data, such as videos, pictures, emails, and text files.
iii. It's a more dynamic method than rule-based testing, which can only assess fraud risk
across a single data set.
iv. It eliminates information silos that might hamper an analytics-aided investigation: this
occurs when locally-tailored processes prohibit integrated data exchange, creating
hurdles to an inquiry. [1]
CONCLUSION
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Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming the most important applied science in all areas of
life. Similarly, the forensic sector is benefiting from it, as long as our system does not
become entirely dependent on it. More and more individuals are realising the importance of
AI in everyone's lives and working hard to comprehend it through digital science, which is
now in everyone's pocket. Technology can make their job easier, but it will never be able to
replace them. Because forensic science is an area of specialists, and AI will never be able to
reach that level, it will only serve as a supplementary tool.
REFERENCES
[1] Deloitte Switzerland. (2018). How can Forensic investigators gain an edge using AI? | Deloitte
Switzerland. [online] Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/ch/en/pages/forensics/articles/forensic-
investigators-gain-an-edge-with-ai.html
[2] [email protected] (2013). Forensic Science. [online] NIST. Available at:
https://www.nist.gov/forensic-science
[3] Maryville Online. (2017). Big Data and Artificial Intelligence: How They Work Together |
Maryville Online. [online] Available at: https://online.maryville.edu/blog/big-data-is-too-big-without-
ai/
[4] Dr Faye Mitchell. The use of Artificial Intelligence in Digital forensics: an introduction. Available
at: https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/5533/1/1922-2707-1-SM.pdf
[5] Chinnikatti, S.K. (2018). Artificial Intelligence in Forensic Science. Forensic Science & Addiction
Research, 2(5).
[6] Turner, P. (2005). Unification of digital evidence from disparate sources (Digital
Evidence Bags). Digital Investigation, [online] 2(3), pp.223–228. Available at:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1742287605000575
[7] Burns, E., Laskowski, N. and Tucci, L. (2017). artificial intelligence. [online]
SearchEnterpriseAI. Available at: https://searchenterpriseai.techtarget.com/definition/AI-
Artificial-Intelligence
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