AI Takes Center Stage at Milestone Integration Platform Symposium
Paul Boucherle reports on Day 1 happenings at MIPS 2018 in Las Vegas. Deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are focal points.
The 2018 Milestone Integration Platform Symposium (MIPS) continues through Feb. 22 at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS — Milestone Systems continues to build upon their theme of building a business community through advances in technology and enablement of their open platform sandbox of core values. The message must be resonating as they have their largest attendance to date at the Milestone Integration Platform Symposium (MIPS), held here through Feb. 22.
Nearly 700 security pros are in attendance at the posh Cosmopolitan Hotel. The mix includes system integrator partners that implement their solutions to their customers; technology partners that make new technology application innovations very sticky to Milestone; consultants looking for new perspectives and solutions to security challenges; plus, incredible thought leaders in both developing the future and customers that are deploying a rich fabric of technologies for well-dressed law enforcement professionals.
The evolution of thinking through new ways to define what we of average intelligence think was on display Tuesday when TED talk phenom Tanmay Bakshi took the stage and our breath away with his intelligence, grasp and very smooth delivery of what tomorrow will look like for the human race as the real power of what we know as artificial intelligence (AI) is actually defined.
What we think of as AI is really kindergarten stuff compared to deep learning that is on display at the Amazon Go store today. I think their theme should be “shop like you stole it” because it certainly has that look and feel on the psyche. He also answered a question on everyone’s mind in the audience: Will AI replace us lowly humans?
Tanmay assured us it will not, but will rather “amplify” us to new heights. For those that may have an occasional bout of dyslexia, his message is AI = IA, Intelligence Augmented.
Think in terms of being able to someday diagnose depression and even mental illness through deep learning fueled by high repetitions of video data “learning.” Today hospitals and doctors are using video technology for remote patient interviews in Australia, leveraging nurse power to keep constant vigilance in monitoring restless children in their care and follow-up after patient hospital checks by doctors.
We heard a great presentation by Capital City Crime Center C4 Technology Architect Sgt. Johnmichael O’Hare of the Hartford Police Department that widely expanded what law enforcement could do to ensure safer cities. This includes using a variety of technologies, such as Milestone, ShotSpotter, Geofeedia, Briefcam and Hartbeat to synthesize new and more efficient approaches to taking bad guys off the streets for longer periods of time.
The vision was grand in scale, but hey you need money to finance technology, especially with tight city budgets. O’Hare’s approach was elegant as it was simple (but not easy). Get the bad guys to pay for it using drug dealing forfeiture laws and writing compelling grants. The results are spectacular, such as distilling 32 hours of manual surveillance in an unmarked police car to four minutes of evidence that supported a search warrant … immediately!
On the softer side, how about finding a lost child at a large music festival remotely in under five minutes and returning the child to concerned parents? There are talkers and then there are doers! Well done, sir!
Advances in Processing Power
Engineers like myself who grew up with Moore’s Law can now officially retire. The concept of processing power doubling every six months due to advances in microprocessor technology was mind blowing back in the day, you know, when they invented dirt.
The current projection shared by Adam Scraba of nVidia is 1,000 x increases in processing powered by graphic process units by 2025. Makes sense when I first heard this at SNG in 2016, and now they are executing on that earlier projection. The key issue is actually scaling of the 1 billion camera streams that require analysis to feed hungry AI deep learning software — physically and financially impossible without GPU muscle.
These are indeed very exciting times for those of us in the world of video technology that enable business solutions that can actually be measured while delivering results. Video is a commodity these days … I don’t think so.
The way that Milestone talks their walk is displayed in their reveal of a stronger way to connect their different communities. Many companies take a pretty narrow view; these guys do not. The marketplace looks to be a serious step up in connecting buyer, sellers and open platform ring leaders in more meaningful ways. After all, we are in business to grow, make money and help protect people. If not, you may be in the wrong line of work.
Finally, talking with people in attendance when I asked why they came to MIPS, the response was, “This is where we can get a look at the future today and meet the supplier that make it happen.” Sounds like a good community to move into and raise a business.
I look forward to what tomorrow reveals. Until then, happy trails to you from the road.
If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!
About the Author
Paul Boucherle, SSI Contributor
Paul C. Boucherle, Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and Certified Sherpa Coach (CSC), is Security Sales & Integration’s “Business Fitness” columnist. A principal of Matterhorn Consulting, he has more than 30 years of diverse security and safety industry experience including UL central station operations, risk-vulnerability assessments, strategic security program design and management of industry convergence challenges. Boucherle has successfully guided top-tier companies in achieving enhanced ROI resulting from improved sales and operational management techniques. He is a charismatic speaker and educator on a wide range of critical topics relating to the security industry of today and an accomplished corporate strategist and marketer whose vision and expertise in business performance have driven notable enterprise growth in the security industry sector.
Related Content
Security Is Our Business, Too
For professionals who recommend, buy and install all types of electronic security equipment, a free subscription to Commercial Integrator + Security Sales & Integration is like having a consultant on call. You’ll find an ideal balance of technology and business coverage, with installation tips and techniques for products and updates on how to add to your bottom line.
A FREE subscription to the top resource for security and integration industry will prove to be invaluable.
[…] the full Day 1 article and another on Day 2 of MIPS on Taking Risks in Order to […]