Artificial Intelligence Tool Cybercheck Is under Fire for Its Ability to Put People behind Bars

Can an AI tool be used in US courtrooms? Can their findings be used to put people behind bars? Those are the questions being raised about the AI-powered algorithm behind Cybercheck.

This tool has been used in more than 8,000 cases across the US since its release, and yet judges, prosecutors, and lawyers still do not understand how it works. In fact, its methodology is kept a tight secret. Even with that caveat, Cybercheck  has already been used to provide damning evidence that places defendants at crime scenes and leads to their convictions.

In the case of Adarus Black, he was sentenced to life in prison partly because of this AI tool. Black was found guilty of participating in a drive-by shooting that resulted in a murder charge, and despite no direct evidence linking him to the location of the shooting, the Cybercheck algorithm placed him at the scene with 90% accuracy.

It is no wonder that forensics companies are questioning the validity of this kind of program, especially when they are not privy to how it works.

Questions Raised about Cybercheck

Despite limited information about how the program works, we do know that the AI tool can take into account mobile signaling, cyber profile data, witness statements, digital evidence, and more to determine where a person might have been at a certain time or what they might have been likely to do. The Cybercheck founder, Adam Mosher, refuses to reveal the tool’s methodology.

That has irked many forensic personnel and judges. Some judges have even banned the program from use in their courtrooms, saying that it denies the defendant the due process of law.

At the moment, the battle is mostly being fought by local judges who have to issue a ruling in their own courtroom as to whether they will accept the findings of Cybercheck and other AI-powered programs.