AI chiefs: AFP to use artificial intelligence to infiltrate foreign crime rings

The nation’s federal police force says AI is being used to help interpret, understand and translate intelligence from foreign crime rings.

The nation’s federal police force are looking toward artificial intelligence to better inform its chain of command, with the police considering using the technology to make operations more efficient and to improvise situational awareness.

Australian Federal Police say the technology will help its force operate faster and more effectively when dealing with foreign crime rings, with AI used to almost instantly interpret, understand and translate foreign text.

That’s according to AFP chief data officer Benjamin Lamont, the feds’ head of AI who has been tasked with implementing the rapidly growing technology into the force.

“From a law enforcement perspective, AI can create operational efficiencies and be used to improve situational awareness to better inform human decision making and minimise risks to public and police safety” he told The Australian.

“The AFP believes AI will deliver a net benefit to law enforcement, however it is important to note that it will be used to complement, not replace, human expertise and human interaction.”

AFP Chief Data Officer Benjamin Lamont.

How the technology had changed the force was the role it played in being able to decipher intelligence related to foreign crime rings.

“Currently, the AFP is primarily using AI to transfer and translate large amounts of data from one format to another because it is quicker,” he said. “For example, translating foreign text to determine its relevance in an investigation, transcribing audio communication and using keyword identification to expedite processes.”

The AFP was also behind several pilot programs, including the development of an AI research centre in Melbourne with Monash University.

The centre is developing methods of using AI to detect child abuse material online. It has called upon Australian adults to hand in photos of themselves when they were children to help its system detect exploitation material. “The aim is to enable police to intervene faster to remove children from harm, stop perpetrators and better protect the community,” Mr Lamont said.

Over at Suncorp, AI is changing the way insurance claims are made, with the technology able to make rapid assessments of a customer’s home based on its location, satellite imagery and the suburbs history of natural disasters.

The technology works so fast most customers no longer need to waste time filling out countless questions, explains Priyanka Paranagama, Suncorp’s executive general manager of data and enterprise tech.

“We now ask far less questions of our home insurance customers. When they want to insure their home, we use AI to understand what their property looks like,” he said.

Priyanka Paranagama, Suncorp’s executive general manager of data and enterprise tech

“So once they give us their address and so on, we are able to deduce a lot of information to give them.”

That is called geospatial question reduction, Mr Paranagama said and that instant ability to assess properties and potential damage had a major impact on the construction industry’s supply chain, with insurance companies able to more accurately plan and order supplies for repairs ahead of flood or rain periods.

Mr Paranagama’s AI prediction for 2024 was that the world will see more ways to interact with AI. “What might be the biggest change in the next 12 months or so? That’s probably multi-modal AI and the ability to have deep multi-modal conversations with multi-modal responses,” he said.

Multi-modal AI refers to the ability to communicate with AI using imagery, text and voice commands.

At global enterprise technology giant SAP, it’s Dr Kim Oosthuizen who heads up AI for the company’s Australian and New Zealand arms.

Dr Oosthuizen said misconceptions surrounding AI were plentiful. “Artificial intelligence has really been around us in some capacity for over 60 years … and yet, there are so many misconceptions,” she said.

“AI is computer systems with the ability to reason, to solve problems and to learn in order to provide a specific output.”

How the technology had changed the way SAP worked was by giving staff access to an internal large language model to ask questions and receive insights from.

SAP Australia and New Zealand head of AI Dr Kim Oosthuizen.

Dr Oosthuizen’s 2024 AI prediction is that business would start trying find meaningful use cases for AI.

“Overall 2023 was really a good breakout year for AI … there was lots of talk,” she said “Yet we all find profound challenges here in Australia specifically with rising inflation and also productivity and labour shortages. My prediction for 2024 would be that we’re going to move away from experimenting with AI and really start to adopt AI that’s in applications because that is how we can see these quick wins.”

Read more from this series: ADF’s plans for human and AI troop future