Digital investigation tools are becoming a more refined technology, with technology now available. It enables professionals to find, secure, and analyze data that would have once been inconceivable just a few years ago. Some envision polygraph to fade out over time. Others believe the latest advancements will enhance the lie detectors’ capabilities and result in more accuracy. The honest answer is a little of both.
Whether in criminal justice investigations, private practice employment screening, internal investigations, or private use, polygraph testing has been implemented for decades. Examiners apply physiological measures along with their knowledge of professional interviewing techniques to facilitate the process of uncovering the truth.
At this moment, skilled polygraph examiners are operating in areas including Oklahoma City, Edmond, Tulsa, Moore, and indeed throughout America. They are beginning to note an emergence of new trends.
In fact, for polygraph examiners, the future of this industry isn’t about supplanting their role. It’s about equipping them with the tools to serve as better examiners in future years. Below are 8 trends that examiners anticipate will take center stage in the coming years:
1. Artificial Intelligence Will Support Polygraph Examiners Rather Than Replace Them
When a new technology takes off, one question inevitably arises: “Will it replace human experts?” A version of that question is being posed in the world of polygraphs. Most would expect computers to eventually be the only ones administering polygraph tests. However veteran polygraphists say we’re still a long way away from seeing that happen.
A proficient examiner is skilled in asking questions that will foster truth. They understand when someone might be giving an answer that just isn’t in keeping with another. We may yet find that artificial intelligence can prove to be beneficial in that arena as well, but unless the examiners we work with really don’t like the work they do, I assume, for the time being, that AI is likely to be one of the supplemental tools available to us.
2. Polygraph Equipment Will Continue Becoming More Advanced
The equipment they use today looks vastly different than the machines used decades ago. New systems are more accurate, more durable, and able to detect more physiological responses than old equipment. They expect things to become even better in the future. New systems will probably capture even more accurate measurements than current instruments.
The sensors could even be more accurate and comfortable for subjects. Devices could record additional physiological information without making the examination even more of an imposition than it already is. As technology develops, polygraphers could get an even richer understanding of how a suspect is reacting to interview questions.
This doesn’t mean the process of testing will get significantly more complex. In reality, most people in the field feel technology can help smooth things up for examiners. Having better equipment might decrease technical issues that the examiner may experience. It might offer cleaner data from the analysis, or help the examiner pick out the hidden patterns. Most polygraph professionals seem confident that a better technology for testing will strengthen the results given by the tests themselves. Then again, nothing will do the work of technology.
3. Investigations Will Become More Data-Driven
Investigation will become more of an information and data endeavor. Private investigators, law enforcement officers, attorneys, and private businesses have never had so many sources of information available. Polygraph tests may also become part of the overall investigation. Polygraphs may become only one tool within a broader investigation.
Several of those with the ability to polygraph anticipate that future investigations will integrate a range of investigative methods. It includes digital evidence, interviews, surveillance, financial information, and the results of polygraphs.
Instead of using a polygraph examination in isolation, investigators are now utilizing the technology in conjunction with other methods. That approach is likely to carry forward. Polygraph exams can help investigators know whether to pursue a line of inquiry, detect anomalies, and prompt truthful statements.
Many of our examiners, and others across Oklahoma City and the U.S., envision future examinations becoming part of an evidence-gathering mosaic. This is rather than a sole piece of the puzzle. Multiple points of evidence that complement each other will take the place of singular data sources.
4. Examiner Training Will Become Even More Important
Technology is developing as time marches forward, but among some of the critical elements impacting successful examination is examiner training. Experts maintain that the future of the business lies squarely in education. With many new technologies emerging in the field, Examiners will have to be trained and able to effectively incorporate new and developing sources of information into existing examinations. Examiners see more demanding training sessions. Polygraph examiners expect future continuing education to cover topics ranging from more sophisticated interview and behavioral skills to more advanced instruction in psychology, ethics, and newer technologies.
Expect a greater reliance on training and continuing education than currently exists. It may sound funny, but the public talks all about the machine, but the expert says that the interviewer is as important as the machine. A good examiner can set up an interview in an appropriate manner.
He knows how to remain cool and professional and can conduct an environment conducive to the truthful statement being made.
We can’t develop these skills all of a sudden. In the face of increasing expectations, the certification and training requirements may increase in the number of credits or become more stringent. Some folks look forward to these stricter requirements because better training increases the level of trust placed in our field. All in all, the best and future is available to examiners who are willing to continually train and develop as professionals.
5. Privacy and Ethics Will Receive Greater Attention
Technology makes many things possible and, at the same time, carries great responsibility with it. As polygraph system technology increases, so will discussions about our personal right to privacy and ethical issues that can be derived from polygraph examination. It is very likely that you, as a client, and your examination result, will see increasing discussion and attention in many more avenues than we currently do.
Whether from you desiring an explanation of how your data will be captured, stored, and handled, from your employer interested in ensuring confidential information does not escape, or you wishing confidence that the examination conducted by your examiner is fair, objective, and ethical… we understand there will be concern.
With advancement, it is likely new examination systems will have even more potential to generate greater volumes of data, requiring more careful stewardship of all data gathered.
Competent professional examiners know that they build upon trust. Most people who are taking a test or have recently been the subject of examination will usually have to consider sensitive and sometimes scandalous details, such as allegations or issues related to crime, family, or work, and also issues or information that they don’t want any other person to know. Future policy will demand increased transparency, consent, and accountability in data collection.
Examiners concerned about ethical issues will be rewarded, gaining credibility for client/employer/investigator alike.
Professional examiners expect future policies and guidelines for the industry to make professional ethics a significant way to differentiate professional examiners from others.
6. Specialized Polygraph Services Will Become More Common
Not all polygraph exams are alike. The nature of the examination being requested may vary considerably from a criminal matter to an investigation concerning your employment, to a domestic issue, to a pre-employment/government screening exam. Polygraph examiners anticipate greater specialization in the near future.
As demand increases, we’ll probably see an even larger number of specialists emerge in the fields.
For example, some individuals may specialize in conducting only criminal investigations, while others may specialize in investigating fraud in the corporate environment, others in employment screening, and yet others may find their niche conducting investigations into domestic and family-related problems, and others work with attorneys providing opinions based on examination results. This has begun to allow examiners to specialize to greater depths in their respective areas of expertise.
When clients work with people who grasp the subtleties of the situation, their examinations may proceed more smoothly. For example, an examiner who specializes in workplace fraud issues would likely be familiar with various types of employee theft and misconduct. An examiner working frequently with legal representatives likely would have a clearer grasp of the legal context and evidentiary issues. Looking ahead, specialized polygraph services will likely become increasingly more prevalent.
7. Public Understanding of Polygraph Testing Will Improve
From the earliest days of motion pictures and, later, television, the public perception of the polygraph has been molded by such productions. However, many of those perceptions have been, and continue to be, misleading. For decades, our entertainment media have offered polygraph tests as magical contraptions to immediately distinguish lie or truth from deception.
This is not how lie detector tests work. Most polygraph examiners say they have little doubt that people’s overall understanding of how polygraphs are used eventually will improve. They, more and more, find themselves teaching clients on exactly what they can and cannot be expected to do when they undergo one.
They also emphasize that a polygraph cannot ‘detect lies’. In the simplest of terms, measures physiological phenomena that indicate some reaction to a question being posed, under a variety of testing conditions.
With more information available, people are beginning to see what testing involves. Increased exposure might prove helpful to not only test takers but examiners, too. Clients often test with a better sense of what an exam entails, resulting in more accurate testing and fewer nerves in testing sessions.
When there are fewer preconceptions among clients, the overall experience is generally less complicated for the examiner, too. The field of testing may experience a brighter future with more accessible information, honest conversations, and a focus on public education for the purposes of modern investigations. As knowledge continues to rise, perhaps public confidence will follow.
8. Human Expertise Will Remain the Most Valuable Part of the Process
There’s one aspect of the future that hasn’t changed much, which is the human element.
Information is a computer’s forte, and software sees patterns in data with AI processing data faster than you can think.
An experienced polygraph examiner can read the signs of stress. Can put someone at ease. Knows whether to push the envelope for a second or third follow-up question, or when to back off and let that individual think. What’s most important is that they understand context.
No two cases are and no two people are alike. No two interviews will present themselves with the same considerations that must go into assessing them. More technology may become available in the next decade. The analysis of collected data may improve greatly.
The polygraph examiners’ capacity to grasp human behavior will not be the focus, in the long term, of technological improvement, but rather will likely never go away.
This is perhaps the most critical prediction many polygraph practitioners feel.
The next era of the polygraph process will not just focus on better technology, but rather on highly skilled human instruments.
Final Thoughts
The future of polygraphs looks promising, but it may not be the same as the future it used to be. Technology is going to evolve. AI is going to increase, and the gear is going to get better. Investigatory processes will evolve with new tools that emerge. Despite these changes, polygraphs will continue to address what people want to know.
Businesses need to look at wrongdoing. Attorneys seek the information to shed light on controversial situations. Police departments look for evidence during the course of a criminal investigation. The polygraph may be part of the mix.
The best and most successful polygraph examiners in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Edmond, Moore, and across the nation are preparing for this transition already, because they know that invention is key, but professionalism, honesty, ethics, and human analysis still reign in polygraph examination. Need polygraph examinations conducted? Get in touch with Sneaky Cat Private Investigations today.
