Georgia Forensic Artist Defended Manual Sketching

A Georgia Bureau of Investigation artist maintains that hand-drawn portraits outperform modern artificial intelligence.

Updated on Sept. 21, 2026 in Law Enforcement

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a charcoal pencil on a blank sketchpad, symbolizing the precision of human forensic artistry. — Georgia Bureau of Investigation forensic artist Kelly Lawson continues to champion hand-drawn suspect sketches, arguing they provide superior accuracy over emerging AI tools. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Do you trust hand-drawn sketches more than AI-generated images for identifying criminal suspects?

Georgia Bureau of Investigation forensic artist Kelly Lawson continues to rely on hand-drawn sketches to identify suspects. Lawson argues that traditional portraits capture essential resemblance better than AI tools, which may introduce inaccuracies.

Why it matters

The approach highlights the ongoing debate over the reliability of AI in criminal investigations versus human expertise. While some departments adopt new technology, concerns about errors and consistency in AI-generated images persist.

Kelly Lawson has served the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for 15 years as a forensic artist. Her work involves hand-drawn portraits created by synthesizing witness descriptions without using leading questions.

The players

Kelly Lawson

She has worked as a forensic artist for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for 15 years.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation

This is the state agency that provides forensic art services for Georgia and various county-level jurisdictions.

Forsyth County Sheriff's Office

This North Carolina law enforcement agency retracted an AI-generated sketch after it led to an inaccurate identification.

Goodyear Police Department

This Arizona-based agency utilizes artificial intelligence tools to enhance suspect sketches during investigations.

The details

Lawson prioritizes capturing the general resemblance of a suspect while carefully avoiding leading questions that could distort a witness memory. This comes as other agencies experiment with AI, such as the Goodyear Police Department, though the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office in North Carolina recently retracted an AI sketch after a man was wrongly questioned due to inconsistencies.

In summer 2026, the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office published an AI-generated sketch.
In September 2026, the GBI artist discussed the differences between hand-drawn sketches and AI.

Legal Context

The debate over forensic methods in Georgia follows a pattern set by the controversy surrounding the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office AI sketch retraction. This incident highlights the ongoing legal and ethical friction as agencies weigh traditional techniques against evolving AI systems.

The reliance on traditional artistry may offer residents more reliable suspect identification if automated systems continue to produce inaccuracies. This methodology helps maintain public trust by ensuring that police sketches remain rooted in verified witness accounts rather than algorithmic projections.

The takeaway

The tension between human artistry and artificial intelligence suggests that technological adoption in policing requires rigorous validation. Experts recommend that agencies remain cautious about implementing AI tools that could result in public confusion or wrongful investigation.