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BLS statistics say there are about 1.1 million "Security Guards" employed in the US. [1] (For comparison, the total of Taxi Drivers and Chauffeurs, Heavy and Tr

BLS statistics say there are about 1.1 million "Security Guards" employed in the US. [1] (For comparison, the total of Taxi Drivers and Chauffeurs, Heavy and Tractor-trailer Truck Drivers, Bus Drivers, and Delivery Truck Drivers and Driver/Sales Workers is about 4 million in total [2].) Is it reasonable to compare the scale of impact that this might have in the security space, compared to, for example, how self-driving cars might impact space of professional drivers? Knowing next to nothing about the physical security world... what fraction of these roles are serviceable by a robot like Cobalt's video shows today? What further advances are required to be more useful? [1] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/protective-service/security-guards.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/protective-service/security-guards.h... [2] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/taxi-drivers-and-chauffeurs.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/t... https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/heavy-and-tractor-trailer-truck-drivers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/h... https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/bus-drivers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/b... https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/delivery-truck-drivers-and-driver-sales-workers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/d...

rqebmm 10y ago
This sounds more like a mobile security camera than a replacement for a security guard. I'd be surprised if a large chunk is taken out of that employment market anytime soon.
gumby 10y ago
I suspect non-mobile camera infrastructure (and perhaps ultimately of cameras worn for other reasons) scanned by AI will replace most of them. Mobile cameras like these, just as with many patrolling security guards, are for visibility more than "enforcement" (using quotation marks since private guards don't actually enforce laws in a society with the government is supposed to have a monopoly on violence). The number of guards in the US has grown ridiculously out of proportion to the growth (diminution actually) of risk. Much of it is theatrical: employees feel unnecessary fear in parking lots, shareholders worry that important papers my be waking out the front door, they neighboring company has turnstiles to control incoming people -- what, are we less important than they? As corporate profits start to thin, the cost of supporting all these worthless jobs will become untenable and automation will rise.

rqebmm 10y ago

This sounds more like a mobile security camera than a replacement for a security guard. I'd be surprised if a large chunk is taken out of that employment market anytime soon.

gumby 10y ago

I suspect non-mobile camera infrastructure (and perhaps ultimately of cameras worn for other reasons) scanned by AI will replace most of them. Mobile cameras like these, just as with many patrolling security guards, are for visibility more than "enforcement" (using quotation marks since private guards don't actually enforce laws in a society with the government is supposed to have a monopoly on violence). The number of guards in the US has grown ridiculously out of proportion to the growth (diminution actually) of risk. Much of it is theatrical: employees feel unnecessary fear in parking lots, shareholders worry that important papers my be waking out the front door, they neighboring company has turnstiles to control incoming people -- what, are we less important than they? As corporate profits start to thin, the cost of supporting all these worthless jobs will become untenable and automation will rise.