It’s everywhere – Artificial intelligence and digital technologies are becoming increasingly prevalent in Australian workplaces — the security industry is no exception.
From intelligent video analytics and automated alerts to workforce platforms, digital reporting and increasingly sophisticated monitoring systems, technology continues to change how security services can be delivered and managed.
But introducing new technology is not simply a technology decision.
It can also change the way people work.
A timely reminder about technological change
Safe Work Australia recently released new guidance examining AI and digital technologies in the workplace.
The guidance makes an important point:
while these technologies can improve productivity and help organisations manage workplace risks, they can also introduce new hazards or increase existing physical and psychological risks if they are not appropriately designed, implemented and managed.
So, the real affects technological change can reach well beyond the primary purpose for implementation.
Technology can change the job
Consider what happens when an organisation introduces better analytics, automated alerts or more sophisticated reporting.
The technology may make more information available, but someone still needs to understand that information and decide what to do with it.
An automated alert may identify something requiring attention. It does not necessarily determine the appropriate operational response.
A new reporting platform may improve visibility across multiple sites. It may also change what supervisors are expected to monitor and how quickly they are expected to respond.
AI-assisted systems may help identify patterns that would previously have required considerable human effort. They can also create new questions about oversight, training and accountability.
The important issue is therefore not simply whether the technology works.
It is whether the organisation is ready to work effectively with it.
Implementation — plan it!
Technology is most useful when it becomes part of a sound operational system rather than being treated as a solution in itself.
Here are some questions worth considering before introducing significant new digital capabilties:
- What operational problem are we trying to solve?
- How will the technology change existing roles or procedures?
- Do employees understand how the system should be used?
- Are supervisors equipped to manage the additional information it produces?
- Where does human judgement remain essential?
- Have potential workplace risks associated with the change been considered?
Safe Work Australia’s guidance also emphasises consultation with workers and their representatives when managing WHS risks associated with AI and digital technologies.
That reinforces a broader principle: successful technological change involves the people who will actually work with the technology.
Keeping people at the centre
Security remains fundamentally a people-focused industry.
Technology can improve situational awareness, communication, reporting and decision-making. AI may increasingly assist with identifying information and patterns that people could not efficiently process themselves.
But effective security operations still depend upon people exercising judgement, communicating clearly and responding appropriately to circumstances.
The challenge is therefore not to treat the adoption of new technology as a simple “drop-it-in” process.
The real benefits — and the reduction in unwanted impacts — comes through integrating the technology into operations in a way that strengthens the capability of the people using it.
As AI and digital systems become more common, that organisational capability may become just as important as the technology itself.