Artificial Intelligence and Diagnostics in Medicine and Forensic Science

Abstract

Diagnoses in forensic science cover many disciplinary and technical fields, including thanatology and clinical forensic medicine, as well as all the disciplines mobilized by these two major poles: criminalistics, ballistics, anthropology, entomology, genetics, etc. A diagnosis covers three major interrelated concepts: a categorization of pathologies (the diagnosis); a space of signs or symptoms; and the operation that makes it possible to match a set of signs to a category (the diagnostic approach). The generalization of digitization in all sectors of activity—including forensic science, the acculturation of our societies to data and digital devices, and the development of computing, storage, and data analysis capacities—constitutes a favorable context for the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). AI can intervene in the three terms of diagnosis: in the space of pathological categories, in the space of signs, and finally in the operation of matching between the two spaces. Its intervention can take several forms: it can improve the performance (accuracy, reliability, robustness, speed, etc.) of the diagnostic approach, better define or separate known diagnostic categories, or better associate known signs. But it can also bring new elements, beyond the mere improvement of performance: AI takes advantage of any data (data here extending the concept of symptoms and classic signs, coming either from the five senses of the human observer, amplified or not by technical means, or from complementary examination tools, such as imaging). Through its ability to associate varied and large-volume data sources, but also its ability to uncover unsuspected associations, AI may redefine diagnostic categories, use new signs, and implement new diagnostic approaches. We present in this article how AI is already mobilized in forensic science, according to an approach that focuses primarily on improving current techniques. We also look at the issues related to its generalization, the obstacles to its development and adoption, and the risks related to the use of AI in forensic diagnostics.