New AI Tool Helps Investigators Detect Bias in Digital Forensic Evidence

Researchers at the University of Dundee have unveiled an AI-assisted tool designed to help digital-forensics practitioners identify potential bias and ambiguity in the way forensic evidence is communicated.

The Clarity Checker, developed through the European Clarus Project, analyses written forensic reports and flags language that could influence how digital evidence is interpreted. The tool focuses on clarity, neutrality and potential sources of bias in investigative communication.

The project comes from research conducted across Scotland, Finland, Greece, Czechia and Portugal, examining how communication practices can affect the interpretation of digital evidence and cooperation between investigators, forensic laboratories and other parts of the criminal-justice system.

Alongside the AI tool, the researchers have released a multilingual digital-forensics lexicon intended to address inconsistent terminology between agencies and countries. The project says ambiguous or inconsistent language can contribute to misinterpretation and make cross-border investigations more difficult.

The Clarity Checker is not designed to determine whether digital evidence is genuine or prove that an investigation is correct. Instead, it provides a communication “self-check” intended to make potential bias and unclear wording visible before forensic findings are shared or relied upon.

The tools mark a growing focus in digital forensics on how evidence is communicated and interpreted, not only how it is collected and analysed.