Argus CPC Wins State Department Contract to Build AI Tool To Fight Art & Antiquities Theft

WASHINGTON - EntSun -- Argus Cultural Property Consultants, a leader in cultural heritage protection, has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of State to develop and test a prototype artificial intelligence-powered app that helps U.S. law enforcement, such as customs officers and investigators, assess unfamiliar cultural objects.

The app is meant to help officers recognize what they are looking at, spot when an object warrants a closer look and know when to bring in an expert. Argus will lead the project. Its technical partner is PARCS Solutions, a company that has developed AI tools for cultural heritage protection since 2018.
"Having worked these cases, I know that simply recognizing what you're looking at can be the first hurdle," said Tim Carpenter, founder and managing director of Argus and former head of the FBI Art Crime Team. "Officers at ports and borders often see objects they have never encountered, and they have to decide what to do next. We want this tool to help them ask better questions, pursue useful leads and know when to call an expert."

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The tool will not determine from a photograph whether an object is stolen or trafficked. Its purpose is to support the judgment of trained officers and the specialists they rely on.

PARCS Solutions will lead technical development of the prototype. The company created Arte-Fact (https://arte-fact.io/), a mobile and web application for cultural property identification, and has worked with many European law enforcement agencies, notably French Police and Customs.

"The fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural goods is a global cause in which cross-border cooperation is essential. It is in this spirit that PARCS is honored to partner with Argus, bringing its expertise in support of a technical solution enabling the US government to combat the destruction of our shared heritage" said Axel Kerep, archaeologist and project manager for Arte-Fact at PARCS Solutions.

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The project is a nine-month proof of concept overseen by the Cultural Heritage Center in the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It will include development and testing to measure how useful and accurate the tool can be. The prototype will be tested in simulated field conditions with U.S. law enforcement, and its results will be compared with assessments from subject-matter experts. Its training data will include categories of cultural property from Ukraine and at least one other country covered by U.S. cultural property import restrictions.

Trafficking in stolen, looted and forged art and antiquities has been linked by U.S. officials to terrorist financing, transnational organized crime and money laundering. It also strips communities of their history and puts collectors and museums at risk of unknowingly acquiring looted objects.

www.arguscpc.com