New Orleans DA Fights ‘Terrorism’ on Streets with AI Spycraft

subtitle: 'Prosecutors work with former intelligence officers and artificial-intelligence tools to gather and analyze evidence'

'NEW ORLEANS—The case against Dijon Dixon, accused of killing Cornelius Smith in 2019, looked to be falling apart after a key witness backed out following an online death threat.

Then prosecutors presented the defense team with a detailed and dramatic timeline featuring some of Dixon’s social-media posts—including one in which the serial numbers of the Glock he was holding were partially visible.

Dixon took a plea deal.

The timeline was assembled by a team of people who once tracked international terrorists online and now are working for first-term New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams. The newly created task force is working to use machine-learning to autogenerate subpoenas for social-media and wireless companies, analyze the reams of data obtained and create vivid, detail-packed timelines.'