Improvements in AI technology have given law enforcement a whole new set of tools to use in trying to identify and stop various forms of modern slavery. However, according to a recent article in Foreign Policy, AI is a tool that cuts both ways. AI has helped uncover trafficking that previously would have gone undetected. But it has also swept innocent people into the mix, negatively impacting their lives.
Normal or not normal? AI will tell you
ThetaRay is an AI-powered financial crime detection company that uses AI to spot patterns. When something falls outside those patterns it may point to a crime being committed. Recently, a bank used ThetaRay to analyze the regular payments being made by customers. The AI flagged unusual activity on a particular bank customer’s account. That flag ultimately uncovered a human trafficking network.
ThetaRay CEO Peter Reynolds said:
“By understanding what is normal, AI will then very quickly tell you what’s not normal, and that thing that doesn’t look normal is potentially crime.”
However, banks monitor and analyze millions of transactions. And while some anomalies may point to crime, not all deviations are criminal. Websites that can be used to sell cars, computers, and more may also sell genuine adult services not connected to modern slavery or exploitation. That’s why, while acknowledging the potential, some are raising the alarm. And collecting data on marginalized populations and automating decisions can lead to unintentional harm, say human rights organizations and survivors.
A force for good AND evil
Over the last few years, AI technology has been injected into almost every industry in some form or another. The anti-trafficking sector is no exception. In fact, technology companies were actively encouraged in the last TIP Report to use “data and algorithm tools” to detect patterns and identify suspicious activity. Businesses, nonprofit organizations, and law enforcement are now able to flag more risks with greater efficiency. But experts caution, we need to proceed carefully. Otherwise, there is a risk of harming already vulnerable populations.
Anjali Mazumder, who leads the AI and justice and human rights program at the Alan Turing Institute, the U.K. national institute for data science and AI said:
“As with a lot of AI-related technologies, (there are) tensions in using it. What’s needed is recognizing that, yes, these tools exist that could be helpful to detect harm, but they can also cause harm.”
Combing through vast quantities of data, AI technologies have spotted patterns, networks, and hot spots. And there is no denying there have been positive outcomes. An AI tool developed by IBM helped uncover Vietnamese nationals being trafficked to work in Cambodian scam centers. The same tool also exposed networks of fake job agencies in Uganda.
What’s important is the human element
Unlike the wins just cited, most of the current uses of AI in the trafficking sector are focused on combating sex trafficking. The problem, say experts, is that many of the ads being analyzed by AI include ads from genuine sex workers. The tools currently in use struggle to reliably discern between the two. That can lead to innocent people being wrongly targeted by law enforcement.
Olivia Snow, a sex worker and research fellow at the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry stated:
“It’d be one thing if they were using AI to track clients or something. But they never are. It’s just the workers. People making AI don’t actually care about human rights issues. They care about making money, and they care about getting data.”
Reporting by Forbes found that an AI tool was harvesting ads from genuine sex workers alongside online sex ads of exploited children. Using the information, police then monitored women from afar but didn’t step in when they were endangered. In addition, because of wrongly being flagged, many sex workers have been frozen or locked out of their bank accounts. A spokesperson for the bank said it’s the human element that still needs to be in place to analyze the data before actions are taken.
Freedom United stands beside Mazumder and other experts who feel AI can be a boon to the sector, but it is vital that mechanisms be put in place to ensure marginalized or vulnerable groups aren’t targeted, further exploited, or harmed in some way.
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