POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Polk County Sheriff’s Office is leading the charge to protect citizens from criminals using artificial intelligence.
“This is fake in a real world, and we’re frightened to death of the negatives of AI,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
As artificial intelligence plays an ever-growing role in our society, it offers criminals new tools and opportunities. That is why the Polk County Sheriff’s Office has partnered with Florida Polytechnic University to create an AI Laboratory, to combat the potential abuse of AI technology for criminal purposes.
“Imagine criminals who want to steal your name, your image and your likeness for any number of sinister reasons. Imagine not having the subject matter experts with the tools, education and training to keep you safe,” said Judd.
The Sheriff's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL) is the first of its kind law enforcement unit in the nation, according to Judd.
Operational goals for the new AI investigative team include: obtain and maintain cutting-edge training and tools to help identify AI-related crime and criminals; assist in criminal investigations involving the use of AI; identify emerging AI technologies and leverage and/or combat the misuse of these technologies; systematically vet new AI investigative software for use in a law enforcement setting.
“We’ve already discovered AI generated child porn. Where they’ve taken children's faces from books from social media and superimposed that face on an image to make it look like it was that child,” said Judd.
Florida Poly researchers and students will work with the sheriff’s office to provide training, technical support and craft solutions.
“We are going to have sheriff’s and deputies out in the real world seeing fraud cases and all of that. Then you pair them with a researcher to figure out how do I counter those particular cases,” said Dr. Randy Avent, President of Florida Polytechnic University.
Thus, allowing law enforcement to remain vigilant and proactive in addressing emerging AI threats.
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