Crime investigation is an integral part of law enforcement. This one task calls for a smooth blend of skills like critical thinking, scientific inquiry, attention to detail and a good amount of human interaction. Working with precision and minutely analyzing information serves as the key to cracking a case. In spite of this, ensuring quality training in skills related to crime scene investigations can be challenging for law enforcement agencies. Developing technologies are opening added avenues to provide enhanced and improved ways to train professionals, one of them being conversational AI.
The role of conversational AI in CSI training
The integration of artificial intelligence in training and development is proving to be valuable to many sectors, and law enforcement is no exception. Some of the factors that make conversational AI a suitable choice for crime investigation training can be referred to as realism, interactive nature and the instant feedback it provides.
Realism – Environments and characters in an AI-powered scenario are digitally created virtual assets. This allows the creation of true-to-life scenarios helping learners better relate to the content and training material, promoting knowledge retention to a greater degree. While training on the job or simulated role-playing may not provide exposure to all types of cases, when it comes to AI-powered scenarios, the possibilities are endless.
Interactive nature – Human interaction forms a crucial part of crime scene investigation. The nature of questions put to a witness, victim or a suspect, and an analysis of subsequent answers can steer the investigation in either the right direction or throw it off track. AI avatars playing these roles mimic human interaction, along with expressions which help provide practice in not only listening to answers but also reading expressions. For example, when investigating a burglary, one must know the type of questions to ask to derive the maximum information, including follow-up questions to answers. Apart from gathering information, the approach to interviewing a witness, victim and suspect varies. Soft skills like empathy, active listening, attention to detail, critical thinking must be applied appropriately in each case, something AI-powered characters can help practice.
Instant feedback – A key advantage of training with AI-powered scenarios comes in the form of instant feedback. Soon after a session is over, an AI-generated detailed feedback is generated that helps learners analyze and assess themselves. Coming soon after a training session, it is beneficial in addressing shortcomings that may be missed in case of a delayed performance analysis. Based on assessment rubrics set by trainers, the system gives an accurate account of tasks performed and those missed. This is also helpful for trainers to track the performance of learners and help them improve upon their skills.
Key competencies developed through AI-powered CSI training
An investigating officer equipped with efficient skills will be able to gather details, analyze them and put the pieces together to solve a case. While technical skills can be attained through professional courses, soft skills must be practiced thoroughly. Practicing with conversational AI scenarios provides an effective platform for the purpose as it helps develop and practice skills crucial to the job of crime scene investigation. The key skills required for the job, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics consist of analytical skills, communication skills and the ability to be detail oriented.
Attention to detail – Every small detail at a crime scene is of significance and the fate of the case may be decided by the investigator’s ability to sift through the pile of information. The ability to collect details may either lead to solving the case or completely derail it. Repeated training sessions with a conversational AI scenario will help learners develop their skills in this respect.
Communication and questioning techniques – Communication is always crucial to an investigation procedure. Interviewing people connected with the case, even remotely, can help unravel information. This can be done effectively if the questions are framed appropriately and articulated in a proper manner. Depending upon the person being interviewed, the questioning techniques will vary. Learners can experiment with different approaches to understand the outcomes and what methods to adopt for best results.
Critical thinking – Crime investigations can be stressful, physically and mentally. Whether there is too much information or too little, it takes critical thinking skills to analyze the data. It takes grit and patience to stay calm under pressure and possess the ability to think on one’s feet. All this comes from exposure to realistic scenarios and from practice in working in challenging situations. AI-powered scenarios provide these two crucial training opportunities to help professionals refine their skills.
Decision making – Analayzing data and critically thinking to arrive at a conclusion will lead to results when proper decision in made within the right timeframe. Practicing with virtual characters in virtual environments gives learners a chance to gauge their own decision-making skills. How do they react to an answer, what do they think about it and what, in that very moment, do they decide to do based on that one answer? The skill to deliver effectively on these fronts can be developed with consistent and quality practice sessions.
Benefits of conversational AI for law enforcement CSI training
Crime scene investigation involves working on the ground, constantly interacting with people and maintaining a keen eye for detail. The most effective way to perfect these skills is practice. Conversational AI scenarios provide the perfect setting to expose learners to various kinds of situations and people and help develop skills to maneuver through them. It provided multiple benefits to this stream of training and development.
Safe and controlled environment – Let’s face it, it’s crime we are talking about here. There is no certainty about the nature of the crime. While amateurs may get intimidated by some suspects or situations, the danger to seasoned professionals is no less. One must always be prepared to handle difficult cases with deftness. Providing realistic but safe environments helps develop the skills to do so. Conversational AI scenarios are realistic, and characters replicate and mimic real humans to provide a zero-risk, controlled environment to build on experiences and develop the confidence to face real-world challenges.
Customizable cases – The wider the variety of training scenarios the richer the experience and more thorough the training will be. With a feature that helps customize cases, a range of practice scenarios can be developed by altering characters and scenarios to present learners with extensive practice opportunities. Law enforcement agencies can customize training scenarios to reflect local crime trends, or regional crimes or specific challenging cases that can serve as training material.
Accessible and scalable – Any kind of training material, to serve its purpose, must be easily accessible to users. AI-powered scenarios, like the ones offered by AI-Humans are not just easy to create but can easily be accessed in a simple web-browser. The cases are compatible for any LMS, and trainers seamlessly track user progress. Scalability is not an issue as one given case can be tried by a multitude of learners at any given time, with no time lag. Moreover, learners may be situated in varying locations and yet take the same training whenever they are free to do so.
The implementation of AI is reshaping the training and development scenario in every field, and it is not different for law enforcement. It is now possible to present learners with realistic scenarios that challenge their skills and encourage them to practice and perform better. The more thorough the practice the better prepared professionals will be to handle challenging situations.
AI-Humans from ELDC is a SaaS-based platform that enables trainers to develop AI-powered durable skills training solutions within minutes. While all technical aspects of creating these AI-powered scenarios have been taken care of by the team, trainers can devote all their attention towards giving shape to highly effective and relevant training and provide learners with engaging and immersive training opportunities. Practicing durable skills is the best way to learn and this is precisely what AI-Humans is providing.