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AI exposure report
Will AI replace Private Detectives and Investigators?
Some of your tasks will be automated. People who use AI will have the edge.
Task exposure to today's AI
Moderate exposure
This is the occupation's typical task mix. Your own score can be up to 30 points higher or lower depending on how you work: routine share, people contact, judgment and how much you already use AI.
Get your personal scoreWill AI replace Private Detectives and Investigators?
Not entirely. Today's AI tools can take on about 45% of the typical work in this occupation, mostly: write reports or case summaries to document investigations. The parts that stay human include: Observe and document activities of individuals to detect unlawful acts or to obtain evidence for cases, using binoculars and still or video cameras.; Search computer databases, credit reports, public records, tax or legal filings, or other resources to locate persons or to compile information for investigations.; Conduct personal background investigations, such as pre-employment checks, to obtain information about an individual's character, financial status, or personal history..
People who learn to use AI for the automatable parts keep the edge. The 3-phase plan below shows where to start.
Which tasks AI can take on
The largest tasks in this occupation, their share of the working week, and how much of each today's AI tools can do.
+ 8 more tasks (25% of the week) in the full test.
Your human edge
- Observe and document activities of individuals to detect unlawful acts or to obtain evidence for cases, using binoculars and still or video cameras.
- Search computer databases, credit reports, public records, tax or legal filings, or other resources to locate persons or to compile information for investigations.
- Conduct personal background investigations, such as pre-employment checks, to obtain information about an individual's character, financial status, or personal history.
AI tools to try
ChatGPT / Claude for reports and summariesVideo analytics and alerting systemsTranscription toolsRelated roles
A 3-phase AI learning plan
Phase 1
Faster reports
- Incident reports drafted from your notes with AI, checked by you.
- Summaries of long documents and procedures.
- Follow rules on personal and sensitive data.
Project
Draft 10 past case reports from your anonymised surveillance notes using AI, verify every fact yourself, and log the before/after minutes per report.Phase 2
Working with AI systems
- How video analytics and alerting systems work, and where they fail.
- False alarms and bias: when to trust and when to check.
- Clear handover between system alerts and human decisions.
Project
Run AI video analytics over 20 hours of your own archived surveillance footage, then score its hits against your manual log to measure false-alarm and missed-event rates.Phase 3
Specialise
- Training in security technology or analysis.
- Procedures that combine AI tools with human judgment.
- Mentor newer colleagues.
Project
Write and pilot a 5-step office procedure defining which AI tools handle database sweeps, redaction and report drafting versus human sign-off, then coach one junior investigator through two live cases using it.