The UI team is developing an AI-powered camera to detect violence in real time

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In an interdisciplinary effort, a University of Iowa engineering professor and a social work professor are creating software that uses artificial intelligence to detect violent behavior with the goal of improving intervention strategies.

The technology works like an advanced nanny camera, designed to detect physical abuse using artificial intelligence. The device remains inactive until it detects potential abuse, at which point it activates to record the incident and send the footage to the caregiver, who can then choose to pass it on to the authorities if necessary.

UI mechanical engineering professor Karim Abdel-Malek said the idea for the technology came from his work as director of the UI’s Virtual Soldier Research Program, which develops predictive models to analyze body movements and interactions in virtual environments for military applications.

“So that led to the idea that if we could use this for soldiers, why not use it for other things?” Abdel-Malek said.

Abdel-Malek and a team of UI researchers patented the technology in 2020, at which point Abdel-Malek said he wanted to collaborate with an expert on child abuse. He envisions the first applications of this technology in settings such as daycare, babysitting and elder care, where cases of abuse can often go undetected and unreported.

He reached out to three UI social work faculty members and said Aislinn Conrad was the first to respond.

“I got a cold call from Karim last September and he didn’t even say what it was,” Conrad said. “But I knew, I just had this feeling, it was going to be a big deal.”

Prior to her appointment at UI, Conrad worked as a child welfare and foster care reentry investigator. He later earned a Ph.D. and a Masters in Social Work to further specialize in child welfare.

“I decided to dedicate my research life to child abuse prevention because, unfortunately, in society, violence feels like a very difficult problem to solve,” Conrad said, noting that one in nine children will experience abuse or neglect. by the age of 17, and one in three women will experience violence in their lifetime.

“And that doesn’t even take into account the elderly, who can experience horrific acts of violence at the hands of caregivers,” Conrad said.

She believes this technology will be a transformative way to overcome the challenge of gathering evidence when retrospectively investigating reported incidents of abuse.

In Iowa, the Department of Health and Human Services evaluated 26,613 reports of child abuse in 2023. Of those, 70 percent — more than 18,000 children — resulted in an “unconfirmed” finding, indicating there was insufficient evidence to to support abuse. accusations.

“This is a game changer,” Conrad said. “This will change the paradigm of how we respond to violence in a significant way.”

Abdel-Malek added that this technology aims to identify abuse before it escalates and causes visible signs.

“The idea here would be before or right now,” Abdel-Malek said. “So right away, you can step in.”

Conrad emphasized the importance of this technology for children who are victims of abuse, as they often cannot articulate their experiences or understand the need to report them.

She added that it will create the opportunity to proactively and fairly protect children
the aggressor.

“Sometimes it’s a lack of emotional regulation. It’s a lack of understanding that the behavior is not okay,” Conrad said. “There are a lot of ways this is going to change the landscape for everybody.”

Abdel-Malek said UI students will have an important role in the continued development of this technology.

“We will need actors to reproduce different behaviors on mannequins,” Abdel-Malek said, explaining how the AI ​​will be trained.

He stressed that the technology’s effectiveness depends on collecting data from people of different heights, weights, hairstyles and clothing, allowing it to accurately recognize a wide range of abusive actions.