The growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the landscape of digital investigations. Cellebrite’s 2025 Industry Trends Survey for Law Enforcement reveals valuable insights into the challenges agencies face in dealing with digital evidence and how AI is transforming investigations.  

Now in its sixth year, the survey has gathered responses from more than 2,000 law enforcement professionals, including examiners, investigators, analysts, agency managers, heads of labs, heads of investigations, chiefs of police and prosecutors. The respondents come from 97 countries in the North America (NA), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America (LATAM) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions.  

The analysis of those responses help Cellebrite understand the perception of AI among law enforcement and its impact on digital forensics and investigations. 

What Law Enforcement Professionals Think of AI 

The survey found more than half of respondents have a good or very good perception of AI. 61% view it as a valuable tool for digital forensics and investigations and are confident that it can improve efficiency and accuracy and uncover hidden evidence, significantly enhancing investigations. 

Key observations from the survey include: 

  • Increase in AI-related crimes: 3 in 10 respondents have encountered more AI-related crimes 
  • Limited implementation: 60% think AI technology will be limited by regulations and procedures 
  • Implications: 51% are concerned about the implications of and potential regulations that may limit implementation of AI  
  • Improved investigations: 79% agree that AI contributes to more effective investigations and makes their job easier 
  • Reduced crime: 64% believe AI can help reduce crime 
  • AI uptake in investigations: With the generally positive view of AI, 51% state their agency plans to implement AI technology in investigations in the next two years 
  • Job security confidence: 16% of respondents are concerned that AI can replace their job 

How AI Positively Impacts Investigations 

The ubiquity of digital devices has led to an exponential increase in the amount of data involved in digital investigations. This makes it impossible for examiners to manually review all the evidence within a reasonable timeframe. Examiners now face a median of three to four-week backlog of digital forensic examinations in their labs, highlighting the need for advanced tools like AI to quickly analyze and sift through the evidence. 

9 in 10 respondents believe that AI can positively impact digital investigations. About 90% say the technology can help provide improved pattern recognition and anomaly detection in digital evidence. The respondents also believe AI can speed up data analysis, with 86% agreeing that it can quickly analyze vast amounts of data to surface relevant evidence faster.  

82% of respondents say AI can help automate repetitive tasks such as data acquisition, hashing, keyword searching and report generation, thus freeing up valuable time. Additionally, about 60% say AI can help them prioritize evidence and reduce human error.  

The volume of devices and data in investigations puts a high demand on personnel. With 69% of investigators saying they don’t have enough time to review all the data in their cases, law enforcement resources are often stretched thin. To meet these challenges, agencies must scale with technology, using AI to enhance their capacity instead of relying on headcount. 

Most Valued Functionalities in AI Tools 

When asked about the most valuable functionalities in AI tools for digital forensics and investigations, here is what the respondents had to say in the survey: 

  • 72% state content classification and prioritization as the most valuable 
  • About 67% value automated device extraction and the identification of potential leads and suspects 
  • More than 50% value the ability to generate investigative reports and automate administrative intake forms 

With digital evidence present in about 9 out of 10 cases, the need for a modernized workflow that can handle all that data is only increasing. To help accelerate case closures, advanced solutions with AI-powered capabilities can help act as an assistant to the human doing the work. 

READ: AI-Powered Investigations: How Cellebrite is Accelerating Justice with Cutting-Edge Technology 

Boosting Digital Investigations with AI 

Solutions such as Cellebrite Pathfinder leverage AI to streamline the investigative process and analyze large volumes of data. It can automate data ingestion and use advanced machine learning to analyze and visualize data from multiple sources such as mobile, computer, cloud and other media to identify patterns and reveal connections. Pathfinder can then visualize complete cases, create cohesive narratives and structure personas to track suspects and connections.  

Without AI, surfacing meaningful, actionable insights can take weeks or even months of manual work, depending on the volume and complexity of data involved. 

On the other hand, Autonomy, a component of the Cellebrite Inseyets suite, can run multiple automated processes and manage numerous devices simultaneously on a single computing unit, boosting the efficiency and accuracy of device and evidence processing. By streamlining operations, Autonomy helps reduce manual work, minimizing the backlog of devices awaiting examination. Harnessing these solutions can help law enforcement deal with the wealth of data in their cases, automate processes and speed up investigations. 

The impact of artificial intelligence on crime and digital investigations is growing and worth understanding. For more insights into what fellow law enforcement professionals think about AI, download our free infographic. 

Download Infographic

Stay tuned for the complete 2025 Industry Trends Survey Whitepaper, set to be released early next year, for full insights into the latest trends and findings in the digital forensics world. 

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