Researchers teach robots to identify false testimony

It’s basically a given that one day we shall all cede our fates to robots, those mechanical masterminds of our own creation, when they inevitably surpass us in both strength and smarts, and we are either overthrown or pampered into a state of disgusting inactivity, confined to chairs like in Wall-E.

But perhaps defendants in the courtroom will be the first to see their fates controlled by robots. Scientists are teaching robots how to tell if someone is giving false testimony, research that could pave the way for robot jurors, according to an article published by Artificial Intelligence and Law.

The researchers fed the robots transcripts of court hearings where those on the stand were later found to have given false testimony. The researchers identified the true and false statements for the robots, teaching them to differentiate and find patterns, then showed them new portions of testimony. The robots correctly identified false statements 53 percent of the time, and true statements 75 percent of the time.

So it looks like you won’t have to worry about staring down a row of unfeeling, unblinking faces in the courtroom yet. Well, you might. But they won’t be robots for a while still.