WWCDA Annual Meeting 2024: Maximizing data and AI in today’s investigations

Viewpoints
March 13, 2024
1 minutes

At last week's Women's White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA) Annual Meeting 2024, which I had the privilege to co-chair, I had the opportunity to moderate and sit in on a range of fascinating discussions.  

This included an engaging and timely panel focused on getting the most out of  data and artificial intelligence in investigations. Presenters Miri Davidson, Kora Dusendschon, Allison Griffin, Julie Myers Wood, Carrie Valente, Karyl Van Tassel, and Amy Worley had a cutting-edge discussion moderated by Stacey Gottlieb. The conversation addressed the  importance of data analytics in today’s investigations. Top tips to remember: 

  • Pay attention to the constantly shifting landscape of off channel communications. Messaging apps, social platforms, corporate systems – there are dozens and dozens of channels being used. It is critical to understand how data is processed and stored, and what messaging systems are used. Watch out for privacy concerns, as they vary widely across jurisdictions. 
  • Ask the right questions, right away: get the collection team involved early. Some messages disappear within days, if not hours. It's critical to know what channels are being used and lock them in immediately.
  • Work with various stakeholders to obtain the necessary information, weighing the benefits and detriments of obtaining the information.  Less is often more in data collection.  
  • AI is here to stay. Embrace it but be mindful of where the data is sitting, where it is processing, and what data is used for input (remove all personal detail and confidential information!)
  • Deep fakes are on the rise, and they are getting very sophisticated. Train your team and train them often.

This is the third post in a series of three outlining our key takeaways from the WWCDA Annual Meeting 2024. Please click here and here to read our other insights.

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