4 principles for using AI to spot abuse—without making it worse

Artificial intelligence is rapidly being adopted to help prevent abuse and protect vulnerable people—including children in foster care, adults in nursing homes, and students in schools. These tools promise to detect danger in real time and alert authorities before serious harm occurs.

Developers are using natural language processing, for example—a form of AI that interprets written or spoken language—to try to detect patterns of threats, manipulation, and control in text messages. This...