GROSSE ILE, Mich. — Grosse Ile police are using an artificial intelligence-generated image to help identify a man whose body was recovered from the Detroit River on Sept. 8.
Instead of releasing photos taken the day of the recovery, the Grosse Ile Police Department used AI to render a lifelike composite image of the man — with his eyes open — in hopes of identifying him respectfully.
Police Chief Todd Brozek says the man's body did not show signs of decomposition and AI was used simply to create an image with his eyes open. Police describe the man as approximately 50 years old, between 5 feet 3 inches and 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with short, dark graying hair and tattoos on his back, shoulders and chest.
Hengguang Li, director of AI and Data Science and a professor at Wayne State University, says he believes AI has the capacity to help policing in a variety of ways.
"AI has a lot of potential in many ways," Li said.
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Li says AI could also assist police in other types of investigations — using bodily biometrics to help reconstruct a crime scene or generate an image of what someone may have looked like when identifying factors are not present.
"Whether it is images of the body, dental records or DNA," Li said. "AI can definitely generate different images, leads, that can help identify that person."
He says the technology is capable of connecting dots in ways that may not be as easily perceptible to people.
"It seems AI is capable of discovering hidden factors, hidden relationships," Li said.
Li cautions, however, that artificial intelligence should always be used responsibly — and that both police and the public would be wise to treat AI-generated evidence as leads rather than definitive conclusions.
"We expect better results with more detailed input," Li said.
If you have any information about the man Grosse Ile police are hoping to identify, they are encouraging you to reach out to them by contacting them at (734) 676-7100.
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