Legal Issues in AI Forensics: Understanding the Importance of Humanware

Nowadays, our most cogent need is to embrace a new vision of the digital forensics field, which requires to be focused on: (a) the harmonization of the legal framework and technical standards; (b) the pursuit of common paths when conducting forensic investigations; and (c) the definition of an epistemo- logical frame of reference. These three elements should be intended as the cornerstone of this change. The growing influ- ence that ICT technology is having on the work of judges and legal professionals now requires a stronger holistic basis— concerning principles, practices, and procedures—of what is available, namely, humanware, and what is useful, namely, AI, to achieve and disseminate best practices. Firstly, the full potential of AI calls for a deep insight into its technical impli- cations and into the requirements needed to keep operating in a forensic-based environment, but it also calls for deep under- standing by policymakers, who may lack a sense for the ethi- cal and legal implications of AI, while pushing for its dereg- ulation. Therefore, understanding the urgency to act for the development of a strong and well-trained humanware is just the baseline in tackling well-known problems in the applica- tion of AI technologies (e.g. the reliability and explainability of machine learning methods) in the digital forensics field, as well as in the whole of society.