中文导读 艺术品被盗后常常被转卖、切割甚至改头换面，警方要在海量记录里把它找出来并不容易。意大利文化遗产保护警察开发的 AI 系统 Swoads 提供了一种新办法：它不靠文字关键词，而是比较图像中的颜色、形状和图案。文章从帕尔马古董展上的一张照片讲起，说明一幅被改画过的圣像如何被认出并回到原来的教堂；接着介绍旧方法的不足和这套系统的成果；最后转向专家提醒的局限——AI 只能比对已登记的失窃物，难以识别立体文物和复制品，后续仍要靠大量人力跟进。阅读时可留意 However 引出的转折，以及 a tool, not a detective 怎样概括作者对 AI 作用的判断。
正文 In October 2024, Italian police officers walked through an antiques fair in Parma and took photos of the objects on sale . They were looking for stolen works . A few hours later , a computer system flagged one photo : a painting of a young woman holding a paper scroll .
本段译文 2024 年 10 月，意大利警察走过帕尔马的一个古董展，给出售的物品拍照。他们是来寻找被盗作品的。几小时后，一个计算机系统标记出其中一张照片：一幅年轻女子手持纸卷轴的画。
The system is called Swoads , short for Stolen Works of Art Detection System . It was designed by a team in Italy’s police unit for the Protection of Cultural Heritage , which has kept a database of stolen objects since 1969. The database now holds more than one million items , but many of the old photos are poor . Some are black and white , taken from far away or partly dark .
本段译文 这个系统叫 Swoads，是“被盗艺术品检测系统”的简称。它由意大利文化遗产保护警察部门的一个团队设计，该部门自 1969 年起就建有被盗物品数据库。数据库如今收录了 100 多万件物品，但许多旧照片质量很差。有些是黑白的，有些拍得很远，或者部分画面很暗。
In the past , officers searched the records with keywords such as “woman with scroll ” and then checked pictures one by one . That method was slow , and people could easily miss small details . Swoads compares images instead of words . It looks for similar colours , shapes and patterns , and it can even recognise parts of a painting that has been cut up or changed .
本段译文 过去，警察用“持卷轴的女子”这类关键词检索记录，再一张张核对图片。这种方法很慢，人也很容易漏掉细节。Swoads 比较的是图像而不是文字。它寻找相似的颜色、形状和图案，甚至能认出被切割或改动过的画作的局部。
That is what happened in Parma . The painting had been stolen from a small church in 2004, more than 500 kilometres away . It showed Saint Agnese holding a lamb and a palm branch . After the theft , someone painted over it , turning the lamb into a scroll and removing other religious signs . A keyword search would not have found it , but the AI noticed the match . In May 2025, the painting was returned to the church
本段译文 帕尔马发生的正是这种情况。这幅画 2004 年在 500 多公里外的一座小教堂被盗。原画中的圣阿涅塞手持一只羔羊和一根棕榈枝。失窃后，有人在画上重新涂改，把羔羊改成卷轴，并去掉了其他宗教标志。用关键词检索是找不到它的，但 AI 发现了两者的吻合。2025 年 5 月，这幅画被归还给了那座教堂。
According to Lieutenant Colonel Salvatore Rapicavoli , the system has helped his team recover more than 300 large paintings and statues and over 165,000 smaller objects since November 2023. It also checks auction websites and online shops day and night .
本段译文 据萨尔瓦托雷·拉皮卡沃利中校说，自 2023 年 11 月以来，这一系统已帮助他的团队追回 300 多件大型画作和雕像，以及 16.5 万多件较小的物品。它还会日夜不停地检查拍卖网站和网店。
However , experts say AI is a tool , not a detective . It can only match objects that were reported and photographed . It still has trouble with 3D objects , because a vase shown from the front may not match a photo taken from the back . It also cannot easily tell an original from a copy . Timothy Carpenter , a former head of the FBI’s Art Crime Team , points out that someone must follow every lead Italy has around 300 people in its art crime unit , while the FBI team once had at most 24.
本段译文 不过，专家说 AI 是工具，而不是侦探。它只能比对那些已经报案并留有照片的物品。它在处理立体物品时仍有困难，因为从正面拍的花瓶，可能和从背面拍的照片对不上。它也不容易分辨原作和复制品。美国联邦调查局艺术犯罪小组前负责人蒂莫西·卡彭特指出，每一条线索都需要有人跟进。意大利的艺术犯罪部门约有 300 人，而联邦调查局的这个小组人数最多时也只有 24 人。
Rapicavoli does not expect the system to find the most famous stolen works , which are rarely sold openly . For a small church though , getting a lost painting back still means a great deal
本段译文 拉皮卡沃利并不指望这套系统能找到最著名的失窃作品，因为这些作品很少被公开出售。但对一座小教堂来说，找回一幅失去的画依然意义重大。
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