Threat Detected: Why the Department of Homeland Security is Investing in AI

The Department of Homeland Security is expanding its bench of artificial intelligence talent. While many organizations are embracing AI for a competitive edge, the need within DHS may be different than what private entities are seeking.

The Department’s mission is: “With honor and integrity, we will protect the American people, our homeland, and our values.” To fulfill this mission, we must find and secure information that could harm the nation and its people through terrorist threats and actions. Whether such threats are foreign or domestic, DHS seeks to deter, identify, and address such threats. Their success requires information about where such threats come from and how they will harm the nation and its people.

This suggests that DHS believes AI can play a role in collecting and analyzing such information.

AI is great at collecting data — usually lots of data — and learning patterns that can reveal trends. In the case of Homeland Security, it can identify people, organizations, or artifacts that pose a threat to the nation.

Such data can reveal trends in how illicit drugs like fentanyl enter a country or how and where child sexual exploitation occurs. It can also lead to more efficient immigration processing, improved airport security, and thwart cyberattacks like ransomware, to name a few possibilities.

The Transportation Security Administration is already embracing AI with its facial recognition-enabled Credential Authentication Technology (CAT-2). This system ensures that all travelers who present themselves at airport security checkpoints are cleared to fly that day and are who they say they are. Such identity validation enhances the security of the air system by facilitating seamless, safe air travel while preventing malicious actors with malicious intent from penetrating the air system.

AI can achieve with greater speed and accuracy what human-driven systems cannot. Therefore, the performance of X-ray technologies that scan cargo entering the country can be improved using AI algorithms. The same can be said about identifying terrorists who try to hide their identity and background to gain access and operate under the radar in the country.

Some will argue that using AI to penetrate the population is a violation of privacy, especially when personal data is collected and used. This is a common criticism of any AI-driven identity system such as facial recognition. Such fears are misplaced and misguided.

Data is the oil for the AI ​​engine. Securing such data is a top priority for DHS. Fortunately, most people and their data are of no interest to DHS. The few that are are “needles in haystacks.” Finding such people is extremely challenging and expensive. AI can make such processes more efficient and effective. The department is also working to protect the privacy of the majority of people, not violate it, by preventing malicious parties from gaining access to such information.

When a skilled surgeon performs a complex surgical procedure, the precision and sharpness of the scalpel focuses on the tissue that needs to be cut away, while preserving healthy tissue. AI acts as such a tool, focusing attention on those who demand it, while leaving those without the background that requires close examination alone.

You could even argue that the people who protest the loudest against privacy violations may also be those who have the most to hide.

AI has a clear place and value in homeland security. Without such a tool, near-peer adders will not only catch up to us, but will outpace us, giving us a competitive edge in protecting the nation.

We live in a dangerous world. Ignoring such threats is risky. Not considering all possible tools available to thwart such threats is unwise. Assessing the appropriate use of such tools is appropriate and necessary.

Investments in AI at all levels, including research, development, and deployment, are critical to the well-being of our nation. They must also be prepared when new AI tools are needed to address unexpected and undisclosed threats, which will surely emerge at some point in the future. DHS would be wise to attract the AI ​​talent it needs and make appropriate investments that can help it explore every avenue to protect the nation.

Sheldon H. JacobsonPh.D., is a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.