Prosecutors in King County in Washington state have instructed police officers to not use generative artificial intelligence to write reports. Activists are calling this a good development.
The King County’s Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which handles all prosecutions in the Seattle area, has recently sent a memo to police chiefs and said that any reports written with the help of AI will be rejected due to the possibility of errors.
The memo, seen by KOMO-TV, a local TV station, was signed by chief deputy prosecutor Daniel Clark and states that the prosecutors have “legitimate concerns about some of the products on the market now.”
“AI continues to develop and we are hopeful that we will reach a point in the near future where these reports can be relied on. For now, our office has made the decision not to accept any police narratives that were produced with the assistance of AI,” said the memo.
According to Clark, prosecutors recently noticed an AI-assisted police report that made a reference to an officer who wasn’t actually at the scene of the reported incident.
Certifying such a report amounts to making an untrue statement that cannot be relied on in the court, warns the memo. In general, AI products such as ChatGPT are not currently compliant with the requirements, added Clark.
However, this could change because he also said in the memo that there could come a day when AI will be able to help the law enforcement agencies “in important and time-saving ways.” This sounds worrying to some activists.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), an international non-profit digital rights group, said last week it was hoping that prosecutors across the country will exercise caution.
“Companies continue to pedal technology – generative artificial intelligence – to help write police reports – that could harm people who come into contact with the criminal justice system,” said the EFF.
To be more specific, police agencies in King County have asked the prosecutor’s office about Draft One, a program created by Axon, an Arizona-based company developing tech and weapons for US military, law enforcement, and civilians.
Draft One, Axon brags, saves police officers multiple hours by drafting police report narratives based on body-worn camera audio.
According to the company, every report is then reviewed and approved by a human officer, and at least seven police departments in the US are already using Draft One. To the EFF, this is alarming.
“The public, and other local agencies, should be skeptical of this tech. After all, these documents are often essential for prosecutors to build their case, for district attorneys to recommend charges, and for defenders to cross examine arresting officers,” said the organization.
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