Page 26 - WBG Nov 2023

FEATURE Ask the Right Questions math for me. It told me the exact distance the person would
need to stop at a given speed, how many feet the person would
Just like when you are questioning a witness or speaking to a
need. This gave me an idea of how far away the driver was, and
high-value source, the key to getting better answers from AI is to
depending on the speed, how much time the defendant had to
learn to ask better questions.
swerve out of the way. In this initial part of the investigation, I
used ChatGPT to help me with the math and formulas, and I
Great investigators know how to talk to a witness. They know
reversed engineered the information. We don’t have to do all
how to ask a question, ask the question a different way, and
that math alone anymore.
keep asking the question in different ways to get a witness to
open up. Sometimes the witness remembers more as time goes
along, or asking a question in a certain way elicits a different Basically, I now have an assistant who can give me a convenient
and efficient way to access information and perform tasks. I’m
response or leads you down the right path.
convinced that as technology continues to advance, we will see
more and more applications of ChatGPT and other AI-powered
The same is true for ChatGPT. This tool can help you find answers assistants in various aspects of our lives.
fast—but it can take time to learn how to get the best responses.
Here are some tips on how to get the best answers from ChatGPT.
Be Clear and Specific: The more specific and clear your question Verification
is, the better ChatGPT can understand your query and provide While ChatGPT can be incredibly useful and save you a lot of
relevant information.
time, you will still need to verify the information it gives you.
Just like you wouldn’t give a client a phone number or other
Ask One Question at a Time: Avoid asking multiple questions information without verifying it first, you need to make your
in one sentence or message. This can confuse AI and yield less best effort to verify the information ChatGPT delivers to you.
accurate responses.
Sometimes that’s as simple as calling the phone number it gives
you, and so on.
Provide Context: When asking a question, provide as much
context as possible to help ChatGPT understand the topic and You shouldn’t solely rely on ChatGPT and never use it for legal
provide a more personalized response.
advice! But instead use it as a compliment. Treat it like your
assistant. Any good investigator can do reverse engineering on
Be Patient: ChatGPT may take some time to generate a it as well. It helps get me thinking quicker on where I need to be
response, especially for complex questions. Be patient and wait looking and what agencies I need to reach out to. I can cross-
for the AI model to provide a detailed and informative response.
reference the data as well. ChatGPT is not without its flaws, but
it is an extra tool in the toolbox.
Check Sources: While ChatGPT is designed to provide helpful
and accurate information, it’s always a good idea to fact-check
any information provided by AI with other reputable sources.
Complement, Not Replace
If you ask a vague question, you will get a vague answer. One question that I have been asked recently is: Should PIs be
If you ask a detailed question, you’ll get a detailed answer. It worried about AI replacing them or taking work from them? The
takes practice. Anything you practice you get good at. You want answer is no! AI will never replace investigators because such a
to be very articulate and detail-oriented. Add the details that big part of what we do is being the eyes, ears, and feet of our
you need and structure your question in a way where you help clients. AI lives in a computer. A big part of what we do requires
the AI look for those specific details and key points. If you don’t a person. Taking work away from us is a possibility, but only if
get what you’re looking for, just like when interviewing a witness, we don’t learn how to use AI to keep the work. That’s why it’s
sometimes asking the question in a different way can get you important for us to get ahead of it. We shouldn’t fear it taking
what you want. Treat the AI the same way.
work away from us if we learn how to use AI to keep the work.

AI is going to be an asset—a foundational tool for investigators.
AI Assistant If we learn how to use it, we’re going to be able to keep the work

I see ChatGPT as having an assistant–an AI assistant. It’s an and serve our clients more efficiently too.
additional tool I have in my pocket. I use it on my cell phone
when I am out in the field. I was out at an accident reconstruction
investigation earlier this week and I started asking ChatGPT
questions about reaction time. I was investigating a traffic
collision, measuring tire marks, and trying to figure out how fast
the defendant was traveling.

So I asked ChatGPT, “What is the perception reaction time the
driver would have to be able to stop in time?” And it did all the
24 W.A.D Beyond Global