With the recent deployment of Autonomous Security Robots (“ASRs”) using artificial intelligence on a federal property, now is the optimum time for the federal government to consider expanding the operation to the other 10,000 buildings under their supervision. By assuming a leadership role in the development, growth and integration of these technologies, the U.S. government could well influence the rest of the world in the use of fully autonomous robots using artificial intelligence to elevate safety and security in the workplace.
The federal government has the requisite legal infrastructure (Congressional authority), and regulatory and policy-making processes in place to ensure these new technologies are implemented with proper oversight and accountability. It also has some of the strongest privacy advocates who will be vital to ensuring the proper implementation of security robots in public spaces. In some cases, Congress may even need to provide additional authorities and the Executive Branch may need to publish new policies.
ASRs perform the routine and often “boring” tasks of security guards, like walking through a vacant building or through a parking lot at night. The robots help to free up human guards to focus on interactions with people. And let’s be clear, boring jobs can also be very dangerous. Expecting the same thing repeatedly leads to complacency and diminishing powers of observation. When a human security guard is out on patrol in the dark of night - usually patrolling alone - criminals can recognize a guard’s care-free body language and target their attacks in locations where assistance may not be readily available. It is in these situations that many security guards suffer injury or even death. Robots, on the other hand, can observe and record every action and alert, and provide situational awareness to first responders. If they get banged up along the way, well, robots can be replaced.
The technology in today’s security robots is quite sophisticated and has been used by the private sector to fight crime and enhance safety in airports, corporate buildings and campuses, hospitals, parks, neighborhoods, shopping malls, parking structures and casinos – to name a few since 2015. The private sector has embraced these technologies for a number of reasons, some of which are highlighted below.
Similar to how the federal government handled biometrics and drone technologies, a national dialogue with security robotics companies, Congress, federal agencies, privacy advocates and cybersecurity professionals needs to occur, to ensure the concerns of these bodies are being addressed as this new technology is deployed across the federal community.
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