Software can investigate suspicious deaths

[Althalus]

Software engineers have programmed a computer to investigate suspicious deaths. It can help detectives distinguish between deaths caused by murder, suicide, accident or natural causes.

The software has been designed to help detectives solve complex cases by prompting them to explore lines of enquiry other than those that appear obvious. "It takes an overview of all the available evidence and then speculates on what might have happened," says one of the developers, Jeroen Keppens at the Joseph Bell Centre for Forensic Statistics and Legal Reasoning in Edinburgh, UK.

The idea is to help investigators undertake the difficult task of mentally juggling different crime scenarios, says Keppens. Right now, he says, detectives tend to try to confirm a single hypothesis that strikes them as most likely.

View: Full Article | Source: Yahoo News

[Kismit]

This is great , thanx for the story AL.

[snuffypuffer]

What would be great is a computer program that helps me find my keys.

[Sageghost]

In theory this sounds good but I hope it doesn't mean that human investigators will become lazy and rely on the program too much.

[Kismit]

I would hope not Sage ghost , but I do think less innocent people would be jailed .

[Ladyspirit_guide]

I know such a program would be helpful-but I would hate to rely on a non-human source. After all, the program will only be as acurate as the person who designed it.....