TSA to Use AI to Detect Prohibited Items at US Airports — Here’s How

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is exploring the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms in identifying explosives and other prohibited items during luggage screening, TSA Administrator David Pekoske said before the House Appropriations Committee’s Homeland Security subcommittee.

“We’re going to see some days this summer that might have 3.1 million passengers, and you figure 3.1 million means well over 6 million images that officers are reviewing on a given day. That’s a lot. What we find in our testing is that the constant review of images can be very fatiguing,” Pekoske said.

TSA is working closely with the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate on a method to enable X-ray screening machines to detect explosives.

Pekoske explained that once detected, the machine can notify screening officers to take appropriate follow-up actions.

“We’re using artificial intelligence to train the technology to detect all the prohibited items, so all the explosives and all of the other knives and firearms, etc. that are there,” Pekoske added.

Similarly, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed its intentions earlier this year to leverage AI to boost scanning capabilities at the border for fentanyl and other drugs being smuggled into the country.

While X-ray machines, which are not AI-powered, will continue to be used for scanning, AI will assist customs officers in expediting the processes at border entry points into the country, the Verge reported.

Additionally, CBP is also collaborating with another startup to devise technology aimed at tracing the precursor chemicals utilized in fentanyl production.