In 2020, to help address skyrocketing reports of child sexual exploitation and abuse materials, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) Centre for AI and Robotics and the Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched the AI for Safer Children initiative. This initiative aims to build the capacities of law enforcement worldwide to leverage the positive potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and related technology to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The issue: an exponential increase in child sexual abuse materials
The exponential increase in reports of child sexual abuse materials is overwhelming law enforcement resources and capacities worldwide. For illustration, there were approximately 100,000 reports in 2010, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). By 2023, this number reached a staggering 36.2 million. Moreover, each case involves hundreds of thousands of images and videos which human investigators must analyse to find potential victims.
A solution: AI for Safer Children Global Hub
To help address this unmanageable workload, the AI for Safer Children Global Hub was developed and launched in July 2022 – a unique, online platform where investigators working on crimes against children can access information about more than 80 cutting-edge AI tools and how to implement AI responsibly to expedite their workflow. The information on the Global Hub is available in all six UN official languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish – and accessible to any agency no matter the level of technical skill or prior experience with AI tools they may possess. Hundreds of investigators from law enforcement agencies in over half the world’s countries have joined, with the growing membership fostering international collaboration and communication of practical use for AI to prevent, detect and prosecute child sexual exploitation and abuse.
See below an outline of the AI for Safer Children Global Hub’s main features:
AI Tools Catalogue: provides law enforcement users with information on the range of AI tools that currently exist and filters to help identify potential tools that meet their specific needs.
Learning Centre: enables law enforcement agents to learn more about leveraging AI to rescue children faster, investigation techniques to improve their workflow and how to safeguard their mental wellbeing.
Meet other officers: strengthens communication and networking on using AI for combatting child sexual exploitation and abuse throughout the law enforcement community.
After integrating AI tools into their workflows, law enforcement officers commended the technologies on the Global Hub for significantly reducing analysis time, cutting forensic backlogs, and minimizing the emotional toll on investigators dealing with sensitive materials.
“After adopting a tool from the Global Hub’s catalogue, the time we spend on analyzing child abuse images and videos, which used to take 1 to 2 weeks, can now be done in 1 day,” said an Argentinian investigator.
Since no single AI tool can be the only answer, the range of AI tools displayed on the Global Hub supports the successful conclusion of investigations in many different ways. From object detection, voice recognition, geolocation and chat analysis to case management and authenticating evidence, each AI tool brings distinct capabilities.
Watch the short video below to learn more about AI for Safer Children.
More information is available here
