We all see the headlines nearly every day. A drone disrupting the
airspace in one of the world’s busiest airports, putting aircraft at risk (and
inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of passengers) or attacks on critical
infrastructure. Or shooting in a place of worship, a school, a courthouse.
Whether primitive (gunpowder) or cutting-edge (unmanned aerial vehicles) in the
wrong hands, technology can empower bad actors and put our society at risk,
creating a sense of helplessness and frustration.
Current approaches to protecting our public venues are not up to the task, and, frankly appear to meet Einstein’s definition of insanity: “doing the
same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” It is time to look
past traditional #defense_technologies
and see if newer approaches can tilt the pendulum back in the defender’s favor.
Artificial Intelligence
(AI) can play a critical role here, helping to identify, classify and
promulgate counteractions on potential threats faster than any security
personnel.
Using technology to prevent violence, specifically by searching for
concealed weapons has a long history. Alexander Graham Bell
invented the first metal detector in 1881 in an unsuccessful attempt to
locate the fatal slug as President James Garfield lay dying of an
assassin’s bullet. The first commercial metal detectors were developed in
the 1960s. Most of us are familiar with their use in airports, courthouses
and other public venues to screen for guns, knives, and bombs.
Fortunately, new AI technologies are enabling major advances in physical security capabilities. These new systems not only deploy
advanced sensors to screen for guns, knives, and bombs, they get smarter with each screen, creating an increasingly large database of known and
emerging threats while segmenting off alarms for common, non-threatening
objects (keys, change, iPads, etc.)
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