Safe and Secure: A look into Artificial Intelligence Technology

AIT is everywhere. It has shaped the way we interact with the companies and businesses we patronize, either through chat assistance, e-mail spam algorithms, or fraud security monitoring for suspicious activity.

• By Zelda Beckford
• Jul 24, 2017

Every second the world as we know it is changing for the better and for the worse. This perception varies person to person, city to city, and state to state and can spark endless debates on how to keep our children, our family and our world safe. In step with our ever evolving world is the lightning fast speed in which technology science has immersed itself into our everyday activities. Specifically, it is the way in which the complex phenomenon of Artificial Intelligence Technology (AIT) has become a subconscious normal interaction in our daily lives. AIT is everywhere. It has shaped the way we interact with the companies and businesses we patronize, either through chat assistance, e-mail spam algorithms, or fraud security monitoring for suspicious activity.

By definition, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is intelligence exhibited by machines. Artificial Intelligence can also be defined by any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of success at some goal. The primary tactic to Artificial Intelligence is machine learning, in which programs are trained to pick out and respond to patterns in large amounts of data, such as identifying a face or an image. When applying this tactic to the field of crowd management and threat monitoring, AIT can aid in the de-escalation of situations where human emotions tend to escalate a situation. There is approachability to AI robotics where mannerism, hand positions, and position of power can be established without appearing threatening to the general public. There is also a social aspect of intrigue, where not only is AI robotics cool to look at and interact with, it also can identify a potential threat who is unassuming that an AI robot is in place as the first line of defense.

Additionally, developments in Artificial Intelligence Technology have produced computer systems able to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence. Precisely forms of human intelligence such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages can now be performed faster and more accurate with AIT. The International Federation of Robots (IFR) projects the number/use of industrial robots will grow by 15 % through 2018. An increase that could provide added benefit to military and security officers worldwide. Furthermore, AI robots could potentially provide commercial and residential security in the form of patrolling and reconnaissance of airport facilities, parking lots, sporting arenas and residential communities.

One award winning robotic development such as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, project RoboSimian, led by Brett Kennedy. RoboSimian is a version of a mechanical monkey that can morph between different postures, designed to venture into disaster zones too dangerous for people to enter. RoboSimian can be used to search potential threat areas, disaster areas and collapsed buildings. RoboSimian is furnished with two on board computers; one to govern its sensors and the other to operate its movements. Although RoboSimian's intelligence is rudimentary, its capability offers a gateway to the possibilities of a marriage between human physical security management and Artificial Intelligence Technology.

In 1764, a witty French writer and historian named Voltaire published ‘Dictionnaire Philosophique’, in which he wrote, “Common sense is not so common”. In the objective of AIT crowd management and threat monitoring, the human element is irreplaceable. It is the human ability to apply common sense, coupled with the traditional human five senses of perception; taste, sight, touch, smell, and hearing that AIT has not yet mastered. Today, in the role of security management the human element is needed to assess the validity and/or scope of an identified or unidentified threat. The way in which reaction steps are maneuvered can take years to master, and AIT has not yet developed the skill set to mimic this tolerance. AIT would need to compute at an accelerated learning curve in order to surpass the fundamental developmental idiosyncrasies of the humans who are building the robotic systems.

Paring Artificial Intelligence Technology with security management is no doubt a growing industry. In 2017, Ademco, a Singapore based company announced their autonomous robot security guard. Ademco created the “Rent-A-Robot Service” in response to fewer applicants taking on security guard roles. Ademco’s robot is equipped with five cameras on its long neck, two front cameras, and four wheels. In China, a newly released robot police officer named, “The E-Patrol Robot Sheriff”, is equipped with weapons and intelligent video equipment; a 360-degree recorded view, a thermal camera (night vision), license-plate recognition capability, recording software, facial recognition capabilities, and multiple microphones with a voice recognition software. Onshore, a Silicon Valley startup created the “Knightscope K5” robot which can be found patrolling the shopping malls and parking lots in various U.S. cities. Knightscope created the robot in response to the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the Boston Marathon bombing. The Knightscope K5 is constructed with surveillance cameras, sensors, odor detectors and a thermal imaging system. The robot also has the capability to scan 300 car registration plates every minute; a task nearly impossible for a human to achieve. The piece of mind gained by knowing that on any campus, in any arena or airport or local shopping mall there could be established robot security patrolling the grounds to keep physical crime to a minimum is priceless.

In addition with other facets of crime, Artificial Intelligence Technology can be used in the detecting of Cybercrime criminal activities. AIT systems are capable of recognizing diminutive shifts in online undercurrents, and are eminently more capable than the trained human eye in catching cybercrime in the act. The list of computer systems hacked corporations’ such as Target, Sony, UCLA and Ashley Madison proliferates each year. In 2015, the Ponemon Institute published the “Cost of Cyber Crime” research study, in which it analyzed the cost of all cybercrime of 58 various U.S. organizations (public and private). In comparison with other nations, the U.S. ranked highest with an annual average cost of $15.4 million per company. The three top affected industries being finance, energy and utilities, and defense and aerospace

When a cybersecurity system fails, the damage is unpleasant but manageable, in the best of cases. The loss of privacy and monetary value can evoke a sense of helplessness and security violation. However, the loss of someone’s life due to physical harm or catastrophe is incomprehensible. As more and more social and political threats are uncovered, the need for data and security intelligence increases in order to secure public safety. The role AIT plays in achieving the goal to reduce crime, physical, cyber or otherwise is approaching rapidly to a local community or business near you. AIT is more than a learning machine or cool looking robot; it could potentially save your life, or the life of someone you know.