Will AI Keep Your Property Secure?

How significant is artificial intelligence when it comes to property security? Given that, as The New York Times notes, home security and its cadre of AI assistance is expected to become a $47.5 billion business by 2020, could commercial real estate be far behind?

“We put in the cameras to create a perimeter with no dead zones,” Edgeworth Security chief executive Ken Young told the Times with regard to property protection. Edgeworth is a Pittsburgh-based consultancy specializing in monitoring solutions. “Those cameras aren’t just everyday cameras, though – say, for example, someone hangs out for too long near a particular area, they’re equipped to politely request that that person leave the premises. Moreover, artificial intelligence equips a security system to discern between movement in and out of a building, but that’s far from all – facial recognition technology can help it determine who belongs there and who may cause a problem.

“When I worked at the White House, the grounds were gridded out with cables,” Young, who was an emergency action planner to the executive branch during President George W. Bush’s tenure and was also part of the Marine One security detail, told the Times. “Now, it’s all done through the lens of the camera.”

So how can artificial intelligence help operators of a commercial property? According to AI publication Techmergence, there are three separate ways:

• Analytics with regard to building automation systems. This translates into savings from energy-efficiency upgrades as well as market opportunities given fresh data from the Internet of Things. Still, security software mandates careful deployment of serious cybersecurity.
• Automation regarding property management job functions. This provides savings from business development and prospect conversion, while market opportunities come from AI chatbots interacting with building occupants through Amazon Echo, which Techmergence predict will used by boutique property owners to “delight and reward commercial tenants with distributed concierge services.”
• Machine learning in real estate marketplaces, where savings come from improved search analytics and market opportunities stem from less friction and better flow of deals.

Forbes offers a list of several artificial intelligence companies that are currently transforming the face of CRE. These include:

• Seattle-based CityBldr, a startup that uses an AI platform to source and rank deals based on development potential
• 1aim, which tracks, monitors, and analyzes use of real estate in the name of honing operations and optimizing space
• IKEA Place, which gives a new twist to a fairly classic old standard by using augmented reality to help users see how furniture and other items for sale may look in their own space
• Dynamics 365 AI Solutions, a Microsoft-designed platform meant to handle customer requests as an intelligent virtual customer care agent
• Leverton, a smart-data operator that simplifies data input
• Amazon Go, an app that uses AI to simplify online shopping
• Amazon Echo and Google Home, both of which connect the physical and virtual in the name of being able to shut off the lights from your cell phone (and other conveniences).

Stay tuned!