Researchers in China say they have achieved a world first by developing a machine that can charge people with crimes using artificial intelligence, writes South China Morning Post.

The AI “prosecutor” can file a charge with more than 97 per cent accuracy based on a verbal description of the case, according to the researchers.

The machine was built and tested by the Shanghai Pudong People’s Procuratorate, the country’s largest and busiest district prosecution office.

The technology could reduce prosecutors’ daily workload, allowing them to focus on more difficult tasks, according to Professor Shi Yong, director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ big data and knowledge management laboratory, who is the project’s lead scientist.

“The system can replace prosecutors in the decision-making process to a certain extent,” said Shi and his colleagues in a paper published this month in the domestic peer-reviewed journal Management Review.

The application of AI technology in law enforcement has been increasing around the world. Some German prosecutors have used AI technology such as image recognition and digital forensics to increase case processing speed and accuracy.

China’s prosecutors were early adopters when they began using AI in 2016. Many of them now use an AI tool known as System 206. The tool can evaluate the strength of evidence, conditions for an arrest and how dangerous a suspect is considered to be to the public.