Fiscal Watson: Study on the use of artificial intelligence in the office of the attorney general in Colombia

Fiscal Watson: Study on the use of artificial intelligence in the office of the attorney general in Colombia. This report, produced by Fundación Karisma under the direction of Derechos Digitales and with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), examines the implementation of “Fiscal Watson,” a tool based on IBM Watson Explorer and Watson Discovery acquired by the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia in 2017 to associate cases within the Oral Accusatory Criminal System (SPOA). The study reviews its operation, regulatory framework, and implications for rights such as due process, privacy, and data protection, in a context of limited regulation on artificial intelligence in the judicial sector.

Although the Prosecutor’s Office presents Fiscal Watson as an innovation to speed up investigations, the report highlights the absence of human rights impact assessments, lack of transparency about its use, and uncertainties regarding the management and storage of data, especially when hosting may involve third-party infrastructures such as IBM. It also warns about the quality of the data feeding the system, the technological dependency on a private provider, and the risks to judicial data sovereignty. The document calls for urgent adoption of clear risk assessment standards, ethical principles, transparency requirements, and monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the use of AI in the justice system aligns with the State’s obligations to safeguard fundamental rights.