Rob Rowe, the head of the HID AI Lab, shares his valuable insights and cautious perspectives as the security industry continues to harness AI’s potential
Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into security systems is a journey filled with optimism for its capabilities and wariness of the unknown. Many are yet to fully embrace this exciting technological revolution in electronic access control, and the mainstream public is choosing to tread cautiously.
At present, a mere 22% of end users are utilizing AI to enhance the accuracy of threat detection and prediction in their security programs. Of these, 44% leverage AI for data analytics, as revealed by the recent HID 2024 State of the Security Industry Report. This comprehensive report, based on responses from over 2,600 partners, end users, and security and IT personnel worldwide, across various job titles and organization sizes representing more than 11 industries, also indicates that 35% of end users plan to test or implement AI capabilities in the next three to five years.
In addition to analytics, 11% said they are using AI-enabled RFID devices, 15% are using AI-enabled biometrics and 18% have AI supporting their physical security solutions. Looking to the future, 35% of end users surveyed report they will be testing or implementing some AI capability in the next three to five years.
“AI is certainly a hot topic, and it is good to see the enthusiasm and the natural questions about how it can be applied [within security] and what we should be doing,” says Rob Rowe, Ph.D., who is VP of the AI and Machine Learning (ML) Lab at HID, which has been in existence since 2018. “Looking at that 35%, though, I have to wonder why that number isn’t the remainder of the 22% – so why isn’t it 78% … those other folks?”
As Rowe aptly points out, AI’s potential in security is vast and diverse. It’s not just about enhancing human tasks or identifying anomalies; it’s also about using AI for data analytics to uncover trends, patterns, and anomalies that are invisible to the human eye. Furthermore, AI-powered analytics can identify low—and high-risk scenarios and facilitate automated risk-based decision-making, thereby revolutionizing the security landscape.
Looking at it abstractly, security products, as you know, are always a tradeoff between security and convenience,” he explains. “And you can define curves that relate to the more security, the more inconvenient it becomes for the authorized user, and the more convenient for the authorized user, the less secure it is against the bad guys. What AI does is, rather than riding along that curve, or different points on that curve, it allows you to shift that curve and get greater security and convenience.”
He continues, “AI is an enormous motivation to move the curve instead of just choosing optimum points. And then, of course, there are cost efficiencies, reductions of latency … all those sorts of things that are general across every industry, not just the security industry.”
The following interview looks at what Rowe and his team are researching at the lab, the role of AI in security within the next 5-10 years, as well as his concerns about negative stories surrounding AI – such as recent instances where inaccuracies and false information was provided by Google Gemini, for example – and possible legislation that could arise and hinder progress and research within security and elsewhere as a result of negative press or outcomes.
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