An event which attracted an audience from the legal, accountancy, police as well as computer science and engineering professions was held at Staffordshire University on 12th November 2013. Dr Caroline Chibelushi of Data Burrowing Solutions gave a presentation on how the use of artificial intelligence is used to detect financial fraud and tax evasion. She explained that detecting financial fraud is complex and requires the analysis of large amounts of data obtained from a variety of sources such as banks, investment institutions, mobile phones, insurance and import/export paperwork - Big Data. It is difficult for humans to process such data and manually identify fraud but the use of Artificial Intelligence has the potential to transform the traditional ways of detection and greatly improve the success rate. It was interesting to learn that the techniques used draw on theories developed in physics, astronomy and biology as well as computer science.
The international audience which included representatives from China was given examples of how the techniques have been used to identify organizations involved in fraud not only in the UK but overseas and specifically in Tanzania.
The evening concluded with lively question and answer session and a discussion on how the techniques can be developed and applied in the ever increasing complex world of international finance.