The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
Baylor Researchers Tackle Criminal Activity on Consumer-to-Consumer Platforms
Consumer-to-consumer websites are used constantly — eBay, Craigslist, Etsy, to name a few — but unfortunately, criminals will often use them to facilitate illicit business in human trafficking, the sale of stolen goods and more. It’s these specific transactions that two Baylor University professors and an interdisciplinary team of computer scientists are looking to stop.
Pablo Rivas, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science in Baylor’s School of Engineering and Computer Science, is the principal investigator on grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to utilize technology to identify and disrupt illicit transactions online.
“We are looking at this from two perspectives,” Rivas said. “One is for human services being offered illegally, with the goal of detecting human trafficking. Second, what we learn from this domain can be applied to other transactions, like stolen goods such as automobile parts.”
The project sits at the crossroads of emerging technologies and human challenges. The NSF funding is an EAGER SaTC grant that promotes a secure and trustworthy cyberspace. Initially, the project team analyzes the text of online advertisements and marketplace policies to identify indicators of suspicious activity. Then, the team adapts the findings to a specific context to locate stolen motor vehicle parts advertised via online marketplaces.
Together, the work leads to general ways to identify signals of illegal online sales that can be used to help people choose trustworthy marketplaces and avoid illicit actors. Additionally, it provides law enforcement agencies and online marketplaces with insights to gather evidence on illegal goods or services on those marketplaces.
Titled “Enabling Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Using NLP to Identify Suspicious Transactions in Omnichannel Online C2C Marketplaces,” the grant funds the team’s research using natural language processing (NLP). NLP is considered a subfield of artificial intelligence (AI) involving human language patterns which pursues an understanding of language, context, information and more shared online.
“NLP has been around for a long time, but computational linguistics and increased computing power in combination with machine learning breakthroughs has pushed the field to new exciting frontiers,” Rivas said. “With machine learning, we can trust NLP to make inferences by detecting patterns in language.”
As an EAGER SaTC grant, the NSF recognizes the potential for risk and reward. These projects are, by nature, experimental. However, if successful, they advance safety and security for internet users. The risk, Rivas said, is that researchers don’t know what they’ll find. But, the potential of disrupting illicit activity, identifying individuals caught in trafficking and making it harder to engage in such activity is a goal worthy of that investment.
“We believe we will find markers or identifiers of human trafficking, but that’s the risk,” Rivas said. “We similarly hope we can apply what we learn to other illegal activity online.”
ealm of AI ethics, Rivas serves as director of Baylor’s Center for Ethics and Standards in AI, a National Science Foundation-funded partnership with Rutgers University and the University of Miami. The Center develops critical AI capabilities such as bias detection/mitigation and transparency.
“We formed the Center and have been able to lead a collaborative effort in addressing questions related to AI and technology,” Rivas said. “We focus on AI as a tool to help people flourish, but our work is also preventive. Technology can become a hurdle for people with good intentions, and if it falls into the wrong hands, it can also be used in unethical ways.”
Baylor researchers are called to promote human flourishing, motivated by compassion and a conviction that every life deserves dignity. Their research addresses acute challenges and builds foundations and tools that enable individuals and societies to thrive.
“I’m very passionate about responsible AI, and I think the world needs a Baylor who cares about this,” Rivas said. “As I work with other faculty, it helps that we have shared values and that the institution backs us up in issues like social justice, privacy, or serving people who don’t have the means or understanding to defend themselves amidst a growing technology. As I look for partners, it has been very easy to connect with other outstanding researchers because Baylor is a wonderful community of collaboration.”