Axon’s Draft One: Revolutionizing Police Reports, but Raising Ethical Concerns about Evidence Use in Trials.

In the United States, a new technology called Draft One is revolutionizing the way police reports are written. This artificial intelligence model, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo model, automatically transcribes audio from police body cameras into detailed reports. The innovation, developed by Axon, a leading technology solutions company for law enforcement, has already been shown to save time for police officers with one department seeing an 82% decrease in report writing time.

However, there are concerns about its use as evidence in criminal trials. Critics worry about the AI’s ability to interpret language accurately, particularly when it comes to instances where racial biases may come into play. Dave Maass from the Electronic Frontier Foundation highlighted these concerns and emphasized the potential impact on people’s interactions with the criminal justice system.

Axon CEO Rick Smith acknowledges these concerns and recommends that Draft One not be used for serious incidents such as police shootings. Despite this caution, some police departments are already using the tool for minor crimes and other significant incidents. However, Axon does not have control over how individual departments choose to use the technology but they are advocating for its responsible use.

While Draft One has the potential to streamline police reporting processes and improve efficiency, it is important to consider ethical considerations to ensure that this technology is used fairly and unbiasedly in law enforcement.