Estate Living Magazine #liveyourbestlife - Issue 46 December 2019 | Page 44

C O M M U N I T Y
L I V I N G
SECURITY
SWITCH
Will your estate’s security team be replaced by robots?
Research suggests they will. The reality on the
ground (and at the gate) says something else.
Humans or robots? It sounds like the sort of
choice you’d only have to make in a sci-fi movie,
but for more and more estate security managers,
it’s a very real dilemma. The advances in digital
technologies – including Artificial Intelligence
(AI), Big Data, automation and machine learning
– have made it possible to employ a full-service
security force staffed entirely by non-humans.
Possible, yes. Probable? Sure: Oxford University’s
landmark 2013 study on the future of employment
ranked security guards as one of the most likely
professions to be automated (up there with tailors
and turning machine operators). But is it practical?
There are strong arguments on both sides of the
debate.
Machines, after all, can gather and process
massive amounts of information – far more and
far quicker than any human brain ever could. The
possibilities of an integrated system of data-driven
smart security machines are mind-boggling.
Smart cameras, equipped with cutting-edge facial
recognition software, can spot and identify friends
and foes in seconds. Aerial drones can conduct
silent, bird’s-eye-view perimeter patrols, observing
and reporting to a centralised control room,
where advanced AI gathers and processes the
information, learning as it goes, instantly relaying
any emergency alerts to local law enforcement
teams. It’s quick and seamless, and there’s no risk
of human error creating gaps at any point along
the chain. And, because the machines learn and
teach each other, the system gets smarter with
every passing microsecond, constantly staying a
step ahead of criminals and intruders.
If you think that sounds like far-future make-believe,
think again. Integrated smart systems are already
available and are being rolled out at properties
across the world and across South Africa.