The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies presents both significant opportunities and formidable challenges for the criminal justice system. AI could enhance efficiency, fairness, and effectiveness. But if misused or poorly designed, the same technologies could just as easily amplify biases and further strain confidence in the justice system.
The Task Force on Artificial Intelligence is a national, nonpartisan initiative to develop standards and evidence-based recommendations to guide the safe, ethical, and effective use of AI in the criminal justice system.
Spanning the four major sectors of the criminal justice system—law enforcement, courts, corrections, and community organizations—the group will produce credible analysis and guidance to help policymakers and practitioners navigate a complex and rapidly evolving landscape in ways that maximize benefits, minimize harms, and improve justice.
Chaired by former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, the Task Force includes 14 other leaders representing AI technology developers and researchers, police executives and other criminal justice practitioners, civil rights advocates, community leaders, and formerly incarcerated people.
The Task Force’s work is supported by CCJ staff and researchers at RAND, a leading research organization with extensive expertise in criminal justice and emerging technologies.
Featured publication
Criminal justice agencies and practitioners face urgent questions about how to effectively and safely adopt AI tools. This decision guide provides a detailed and structured pathway to help them evaluate, implement, and oversee AI in the criminal justice system.
related work
National Task Force Releases Case Studies on Artificial Intelligence Use in Policing, Public Defense, and Corrections
Applying the panel’s User Decision Framework, the case studies offer a step-by-step look at how agencies and practitioners can navigate concrete AI decisions
Critical Case Studies: Three Assessments of AI in Action
The Task Force on AI developed three case studies demonstrating how its user decision framework applies to different AI tools and hypothetical use cases, with a focus on substantive decision-making considerations.
Assessing AI in Action: A Case Study on Public Defender Use of General-Purpose AI Tools
Facing overwhelming caseloads, some public defenders consider using AI to ease administrative burdens. This case study examines general-purpose AI tools for research, document review, motion drafting, discovery analysis, and case preparation.
Assessing AI in Action: A Case Study on Police Use of AI-Generated Report Writing Tools
Police departments across the country are beginning to use artificial intelligence tools to draft incident reports from body-worn camera audio and other officer inputs. This case study examines tools that produce draft incident narratives from these data.
Assessing AI in Action: A Case Study on the Use of AI-Powered Classification Tools in State Corrections
This case study examines how AI-powered inmate classification systems shape corrections decisions affecting safety, conditions of confinement, access to services, release preparation, and institutional management.
An AI Taxonomy for Criminal Justice
This RAND report, produced for the CCJ Task Force on AI, examines AI use in criminal justice, presenting a taxonomy of current and emerging applications and offering recommendations for managing risks, opportunities, and governance gaps.
task force members
Nathan Hecht (chair)
Former Chief Justice, Texas Supreme Court
Ian T. Adams
Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of South Carolina
Rose Afriyie
Founder, Afriyie Research and Development; Co-Founder and Board President, mRelief
Armando Aguilar
Assistant Chief, Miami Police Department
Roy L. Austin
Director, Artificial Intelligence Initiative, Howard University School of Law; Former Vice President of Civil Rights, Meta; Former Deputy Assistant, President Obama
Chiraag Bains
Senior Fellow, Democracy Fund; Former Deputy Assistant, President Biden; Former Deputy Director, White House Domestic Policy Council
Alex Chohlas-Wood
Assistant Professor of Computational Social Science, New York University
Ed Chung
Vice President of Initiatives, Vera Institute of Justice
Bree Derrick
Director, Idaho Department of Correction
Herbert Dixon, Jr.
Senior Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia
Lauren Johnson
Justice Director, Dream.Org
Walter Katz
Director of Policy, Innocence Project
Katie Kinsey
Chief of Staff, Policing Project, NYU School of Law
Kristian Lum
Research Scientist, Google DeepMind
Melissa Nelson
State Attorney, Fourth Judicial Circuit, Florida
Jesse Rothman
Former Director, Task Force on Artificial Intelligence
James Anderson (research partner)
Director, RAND Institute for Civil Justice; Senior Behavioral Scientist
Task Force Advisers
Sorelle Friedler
Shibulal Family Professor of Computer Science, Haverford College
Kevin Miller
Justice and Community Safety Director, Microsoft
Judge Scott U. Schlegel
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, Louisiana
Jonathan Wroblewski
Senior Fellow, Council on Criminal Justice; Lecturer, Stanford Law School and Harvard Law School
about the art
The banner design was created by an adult in custody designer in the Oregon Corrections Enterprises (OCE) Graphic Design program. The mission of OCE, in partnership with the Oregon Department of Corrections, is to promote public safety by providing adults in custody with work and training opportunities in a self-sustaining organization.
Artist’s Statement:
“The gavel base is covered in circuitry resembling something close to a computer chip—a crucial piece to the inner workings of a computer. The placement of the chip completes the connection between the computer system (AI) and the criminal justice system. In addition, the circuitry extends beyond the base, uniting the gavel with it and suggesting stronger integration.”
supporters
Support for the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence comes from the Heising-Simons Foundation, The Just Trust, Microsoft, Southern Company Foundation, and The Tow Foundation, as well as the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and other CCJ general operating contributors.
