By Chris Bishop, Sales Director APAC & Marketing Director, Ipsotek – an Atos company

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer considered to be unchartered territory. Today, the use of data and AI are one of the core practices businesses are implementing in order to streamline their processes, manage costs and create better customer experiences.

In fact, a survey by PwC in 2021 showed that over 52% of businesses have accelerated their AI adoption plans since the COVID-19 pandemic, and this trend is not showing signs of slowing down anytime soon.

AI has continually demonstrated its value through a whole host of benefits for businesses – from automating workflows, increasing sales and improving customer experiences, to detecting fraud.

With the cost-of-living crisis, businesses are seeking new ways of reducing costs, whilst maximising their operational efficiencies. According to McKinsey, 79% of all companies have cut costs in response to the global economic crisis. So, let’s have a closer look at how AI can transform business operations.

The busy ecosystem of airports

Since the pandemic, opportunities to implement AI at airports have increased – with the industry putting digitalisation and sustainability as key investment priorities by 2024.

From retailers, baggage control and security checking points, airports have many stakeholders involved in their ecosystem. Automating this journey can create a safe, streamlined and digitally friendly experience, boosting passenger confidence and satisfaction and increasing profits.

AI based solutions such as Computer Vision can play an important role in detecting patterns of behaviour and raising automated alarms to improve reaction times to emergency situations within airports. Computer Vision is connected to the existing airport CCTV and VMS infrastructure and supports up to 32 different scenario-based rules which can be applied to an CCTV IP camera stream in addition to a range of AI models.  This proven technology can determine how many people transit through certain areas, automatically detect suspicious behaviour as soon as it arises and supports many more use cases.

By combining CCTV security systems with Computer Vision and leveraging the power of AI, tasks that would take hours – such as manually trawling through CCTV footage trying to locate a suspicious individual – can be done within a matter of seconds, drastically improving the response time for control room staff at airports. Similarly, the technology can generate data based on conditions observed within the camera field of view and provide real-time insights on trends such as overcrowding. By enhancing security and safety through increasing situational awareness, control room operators can make informed decisions faster and more accurately.

The rise of smart cities

With increased concerns over climate change, many cities across the globe, which are currently producing over 60% of the world’s greenhouse gases, are making commitments to reduce their carbon emissions by 2050.

We know that AI can process large streams of data in a short space of time and by analysing certain patterns and detecting anomalies, AI can provide comprehensive reports and spot trends without having to involve human teams.

An example of this is traffic control systems that can detect congestion and incidents and respond by managing traffic signal systems. In 2020, traffic jams in Europe alone cost 100 billion Euros to the economy, and recent research has shown that traffic flow can be improved by up to 15% after deploying intelligent traffic lights. Using smart lighting allows local councils to consume less energy and become more efficient in their power usage. The technology can also be deployed to measure air quality, especially in areas with high congestion, arming councils with the knowledge of where climate action needs the most focus.

Perimeter protection

When it comes to protecting areas, security operations have gone way past standard hardware such as barbed wires, bollards and barriers. With technology and AI advances, perimeter protection involves sensors, radars and thermal and visual range cameras. Not only does it ensure security and prevents trespassing, but it also distinguishes between real and false alarms – for example, a wandering animal or camera malfunction – allowing security operators to make more informed decisions and deploy necessary teams to deal with the situation.

Crucially, all of the above can be achieved without compromising the identity of citizens. In these instances, AI can be used to understand general patterns of behaviour which are otherwise costly for businesses to identify.

Continuous advancement of AI helps security teams to reduce time when making informed decisions, amplifying business operations and, as a result, improving customer experience and safety. It is up to individual organisations to strike a balance between AI and human intervention; however, one thing remains certain – the implementation of AI across multiple industries is significantly enhancing operations.