Page 20 - Security Today, May/June 2019

The Game Changer
How Artificial Intelligence changes the access control game
BMy John Carter
ost access control systems are focused on improving security and protecting the business, ensuring that only the right people have the right access to the right areas. It keeps the bad guys out and the good guys in. But what happens when the environment
changes and becomes a potential danger to the individuals inside or when a crisis strikes?
Modern access control technology is now able to leverage innova- tions in artificial intelligence (AI) and open standards to adapt to environmental changes. It can move from a gatekeeper to a life saver enabling safe passage for those who need to enter and assist, or to route people inside to a safer area of the building. With new levels of intelligent insights, risk adaptability and interoperability, physical ac- cess control systems are now able to significantly improve life safety, while also minimizing risk to the organization.
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MAY/JUNE 2019 | SECURITY TODAY
AI and Access Control—
Sensory-based Security
The first important innovation we need to discuss is artificial intelli- gence. AI is based on an Artificial Neural Network, which works like the human brain—just as humans have senses to see, hear, smell, taste and feel. Humans can make decisions based on the combination of activity our senses report to our brains. We can identify a wide variety of safety risks based on our senses.
In the case of an AI-equipped access control system, like the hu- man brain, it too has a wide array of inputs that it constantly evalu- ates. The more connections and integrations it has with security systems and non-security applications and data, the more informed it is. Leveraging AI, the modern access control system can charac- terize activity and incoming data to identify patterns and recognize certain conditions that increase the threat to a facility and to the
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