Police departments across the country are constantly looking for new ways to improve efficiency and effectiveness in their operations. One area where technology has been making a big impact is in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI). From drones to facial recognition software, law enforcement agencies are always on the lookout for the latest tools to help them do their jobs better.
One of the newest AI tools that some police departments are testing is software that uses technology similar to ChatGPT to automatically generate police reports. According to a recent report by the Associated Press, officers are already enthusiastic about this new tool, which claims to save them 30-45 minutes of routine paperwork.
This new software, called Draft One, was announced by Axon in April. Axon, best known for its Tasers and body cams, says that Draft One is a giant leap towards their goal of reducing gun-related deaths between police and the public. Initial trials of the software have shown that it can save officers up to an hour of paperwork per day.
Draft One is built using Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI platform and works by automatically transcribing police body camera audio before using AI to generate a draft narrative quickly. The reports are based strictly on the audio transcript to prevent any speculation or embellishments. Officers must review and sign off on the accuracy of the report before it goes through another round of human review. Each report is also flagged to indicate that AI was involved in its creation.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Axon’s AI products manager, Noah Spitzer-Williams, explained that Draft One uses the same underlying technology as ChatGPT. While ChatGPT has been criticized for providing misleading or false information, Spitzer-Williams claims that Draft One has more control over its “creativity dial” to ensure that the reports it generates are factual and accurate.
The use of Draft One seems to vary by department. Some, like the Oklahoma City police department, only use it for minor incident reports that don’t involve arrests. Others, like the Lafayette, Indiana police department, have given officers free rein to use Draft One on any kind of case. However, experts like Lindsay Weinberg, a clinical associate professor at Purdue University, caution that generative AI may not be reliable enough to handle potentially life-altering situations involving law enforcement.
Weinberg, who directs the Tech Justice Lab at Purdue, warns that algorithms like those used in tools like ChatGPT can reproduce and amplify existing forms of racial injustice. She believes that the use of AI tools to generate police reports in a legal system that already disproportionately impacts marginalized populations is cause for concern.
As of now, neither Axon, Microsoft, nor the Lafayette Police Department have responded to requests for comment on Draft One. However, the use of AI in law enforcement is likely to continue to be a topic of debate as technology continues to evolve.
