In the breakout Netflix crime drama Adolescence, British police scramble for clues after a 13-year-old boy is accused of killing his classmate. Scouring Instagram, investigators initially assume he and the victim were friends - until an officer’s teenage son explains that the emojis under his posts are cloaked references to something more nefarious.

Now, some authorities are hoping technology can help crack this code. Australian Federal Police are working with Microsoft Corp. to develop a prototype artificial intelligence tool that will “interpret emojis and Gen Z and Alpha slang in encrypted communications and chat groups to identify sadistic online exploitation,” according to Commissioner Krissy Barrett. She said the goal was to fight back against an online ring of “crimefluencers” and

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