{"669968":{"#nid":"669968","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Resource for Domestic Abuse Survivors Combines AI, Cybersecurity, and Psychology","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers are working to create a new software tool powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to address the under-researched area of digital security and domestic abuse.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese areas frequently overlap with abusers often using the internet and mobile technology to extend the reach of their abuse. However, the smaller scale of these online attacks has resulted in less attention from security researchers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy building on developments recently made in cognitive security, Principal Research Scientist\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003ECourtney Crooks\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;and graduate student\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003ESneha Talwalkar\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;are working to bring relief to survivors of domestic abuse.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe impact of domestic abuse, otherwise called intimate partner violence (IPV), on public health is something that Crooks has been studying for several years through research and practice in her role as a licensed psychologist and researcher.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter seeing how new technology opened new methods of abuse online, Crooks realized she could help fill in the gaps in this research space using her experience working with the Georgia Tech Research Institute, the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scp.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(SCP) at Georgia Tech, and the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/med.emory.edu\/\u0022\u003EEmory University School of Medicine\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo get what they want, abusers try to change their victim\u2019s state of mind through cognitive manipulation and use different tactics to do so. Crooks decided to explore ways to help IPV survivors counteract these enhanced technology-enabled cognitive security risks as they progressed through their recovery.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe software Crooks and Talwalkar are working to develop would alert survivors to these potential or observed abuses by leveraging well-known, developmentally appropriate, psychologically based learning strategies. The tool will focus solely on the unique risks faced by IPV survivors. Applying human-centered design principles and ethical standards to the AI design will be a top priority for the team.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team is working to develop AI-assisted interventions that are psychologically informed and made specifically to focus on the unique risks faced by survivors. These interventions will be designed to take place alongside traditional methods of support, such as mental health and community resources.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s important to understand that abusive relationships are complicated. While some people can escape them, many can\u2019t,\u201d said Crooks. \u201cOr they may physically escape, but resources like their phones, online accounts, or finances may still be vulnerable to their abusers. Survivors may also need to continue to communicate with their abuser, like in instances in which they share children.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERegardless of circumstances, it is often difficult for survivors to stop communicating with their abusers once they escape the relationship. This inability to disconnect is because of the psychological connections reinforced while they were with their former partner.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe AI technologies Crooks and Talwalkar propose will not act like a ChatGPT chatbot. Instead, it will act like a coach, learning from abusive behavior tactics and potential survivor responses.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe tool will then make suggestions based on each user\u2019s specific recovery progress and goals while factoring in potential risks. To improve its coaching performance and general knowledge base, the AI will continue to learn from the outcome of each incident survivors face.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe model provides the necessary intervention to assist in the recovery of an IPV survivor,\u201d said Talwalkar. \u201cWe want to use artificial intelligence for good, and this project is a step in that direction.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe classes in the SCP master\u2019s program played a pivotal role in shaping Talwalkar\u2019s research in this area. While exploring internet censorship and language models, she recognized the emerging challenges posed by AI in security. After an insightful conversation with SCP Professor Peter Swire, Talwalkar gained the confidence to shift her focus towards investigating malicious intent in immersive environments. With Crooks\u2019 guidance, she began exploring the socio-technical environment of IPV.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDesigning User-Centered Artificial Intelligence to Assist in Recovery from Domestic Abuse\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;was accepted as an extended abstract and presented to the 2023 World Congress Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Applied Computing event this summer. Proceedings of the IEEE is publishing the work in an upcoming issue. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn May, Crooks, Talwalkar, and others from their research team presented their findings at the Health Sciences Research Day hosted on the Emory University campus by the Emory School of Medicine. Crooks presented her study of the lived experience of coercive control in domestic abuse, from which this current research is derived, at the February 2023 National Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOctober is\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.acf.hhs.gov\/ofvps\/fact-sheet\/october-domestic-violence-awareness-month\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENational Domestic Violence Awareness Month\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and National\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/staysafeonline.org\/programs\/cybersecurity-awareness-month\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECybersecurity Awareness Month\u003C\/a\u003E. For more information about domestic abuse and resources to help, please visit the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/violenceprevention\/intimatepartnerviolence\/index.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECenters for Disease Control and Prevention website\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECybersecurity master\u2019s student Sneha Talwalkar and GTRI Principal Research Scientist Courtney Crooks are working to build the framework of an AI tool with the goal of providing support and protection to domestic abuse survivors. Their premise for this project is the area of cognitive security has been under studied when it comes to intimate partner violence. In other words, abusers often use the internet as well as other electronic tools to extend the reach of their abuse. Having an AI based tool to help survivors through the recovery process and protect them from potential attacks would have a tremendous societal impact.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Cybersecurity master\u2019s student Sneha Talwalkar and GTRI Principal Research Scientist Courtney Crooks are working to build the framework of an AI tool with the goal of providing support and protection to domestic abuse survivors."}],"uid":"36253","created_gmt":"2023-09-27 14:11:19","changed_gmt":"2023-09-28 17:20:00","author":"John Popham","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-09-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-09-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"671850":{"id":"671850","type":"image","title":"New Resource for Domestic Abuse Survivors Combines AI, Cybersecurity, and Psychology","body":"\u003Cp\u003ECybersecurity master\u0027s student\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003ESneha Talwalkar (left)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003Eand\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EGTRI Principal Research Scientist\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003ECourtney Crooks\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;(right) are working to bring relief to survivors of domestic abuse by building on developments recently made in cognitive security.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003E(Photos by Kevin Beasley\/College of Computing)\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1695822641","gmt_created":"2023-09-27 13:50:41","changed":"1695823703","gmt_changed":"2023-09-27 14:08:23","alt":"Two women standing in front of bookshelves ","file":{"fid":"254993","name":"Dr. Courtney Crooks - 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