Schiphol Airport to explore AI for security screening

Amsterdam Schiphol airport is to explore the use of AI to speed up baggage screening.

In partnership with technology firm Pangiam, Schiphol airport announced that it would be the first major European airport to introduce the security screening artificial intelligence.

The technology has been created by Project DARTMOUTH, a collaboration between Pangiam and Google, and uses AI alongside other algorithm technology to analyse images of hand luggage and identify prohibited items and other security risks.

The security AI will initially be tested on a small scale to allow for further development and it can be applied to existing hardware and equipment, such as Schiphol’s CT scanners.

It hopes that in the future the technology will support employees and speed up the process for travellers – something that Schiphol has been struggling with in recent years.

Last year, Schiphol’s chief data officer Bøe-Lillegraven spoke at Amsterdam’s IoT Tech Expo at a time when passenger queues were overflowing, causing customers to miss their flights.

His plan was to further digitise the airport in order to allow for a smoother customer experience, such as by providing data-driven apps that could tell a customer an accurate time to leave for the airport.

Bøe-Lillegraven was also working on collecting real-time data on the activity around a plane at the gate, such as keeping track of where the cargo, luggage, and catering trucks were, to see what could be delaying flight times.

With Pangia’s security AI, Philip van Noort, director of security at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, hopes to provide “more comfort for travellers thanks to secure and faster hand baggage screening”.

Head of Project DARTMOUTH at Pangiam, Alexis Long said: “This collaboration allows us to bring the benefits of artificial intelligence to the security checkpoint and improve the process.”