“What we’ve done is build on the capabilities of artificial intelligence, using it to take the data we have and teaching it to become a parent. We know that the parent of a missing child will never give up. That is who we want our AI to emulate.” says Mike Cachine, chief technology officer, International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC).

The Global Missing Children’s Network (GMCN) was launched in 1998 as part of the Global Missing Children’s Centre, an ICMEC initiative that works with first responders – police, families, NGOs and governments – to change the way they respond when a child goes missing and to share information on best practices in the areas of prevention. There are 29 countries that form part of this network, which include Greece, the US, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, Canada and Germany. At the organisation’s annual conference in Spain in 2018, it launched the GMCNgine – an AI-powered global platform that works 24/7 to find image matches to photos of missing children.