AI proves that human fingerprints are not unique, upending 100 years of law enforcement

AI proves that human fingerprints are not unique, upending 100 years of law enforcement
04-03-2025
AI proves that human fingerprints are not unique, upending 100 years of law enforcement
Eric Ralls
ByEric Ralls
Earth.com staff writer
Fingerprint analysis has been a dependable tool in crime-solving for more than a century. Investigators lean on fingerprint evidence to identify suspects or connect them to specific crime scenes, believing that every print offers a distinctive code.

Yet, a team of researchers has found that prints from different fingers of the same person can sometimes appear more alike.

This insight came from an artificial intelligence model that revealed surprising connections between prints.

Hod Lipson, from Columbia Engineering, stands out in this effort to question widely accepted forensic norms, in collaboration with Wenyao Xu from the University at Buffalo.

AI takes on fingerprints
For decades, it has been taken for granted that fingerprints from different fingers of one individual do not match. Much of this belief stems from the assumption that each finger displays completely separate ridges, loops, and swirls.