Some futuristic thoughts from the Editor’s keyboard.
I had a dream recently – bear with me – and in it I was working with an insurer on fine tuning the AI response to various vehicle or facial recognition imagery, wind speed, flight times, solar and wind turbine charging systems etc. All the things you might need to make a home based drone security system viable. In my head I called it Eagle-AI and the drone had it’s own perch, a type of hard composite material box with a 360 degree mini-cam on the top, which is installed on the roof, in the eaves or on a garage roof. Wherever the homeowner wants it basically, so it gets the best view of vulnerable areas like gardens, driveways, doors etc.
AI SOFTWARE IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS
This is true of modern insurance in general of course and the dream triggered the thought that in the future insurers and data suppliers will be able to “teach” dumb devices to understand a potential threat in the same way a good doggie does.
What we want is some sort of AI analytics software package that notices a suspicious gait, peering over fences, full face masks, hoods, carrying tools – all the stuff that pro thieves use, rather than delivery operatives. Add in some microphones like a Ring doorbell so that Eagle-AI can log the voices, tone, language used as well. Then layer on some previous images, see if there’s a match from the past when Janice and her out-of-control kids from next door came round one time looking for a football.
All this stuff is raw data, like a Claims history, except it’s entirely normal, not a threat to the house being burgled or the car being stolen. Somehow in the future the insurance industry has to teach AI to appreciate the subtle differences.
Finally, most important of all, the software has to be 100% secure, not hackable like a car keyless ignition code. The last thing any insurer wants is a drone being hacked and sent flying into a homeowner, or innocent bystander.
LAUNCH THE DRONE, HIT RECORD & INFORM
In the dream, the Eagle-AI drone was powered up on a charging pad, partially juiced up by a small wind turbine near the back of the house. So yeah, it ticks an ESG box too. The box has a sliding door, kind of miniature version of an electric gate at the front of the house and using AI intelligence it flies outside and begins filming. At that point it starts to send images to the homeowner’s phone, so they can see if it looks like a genuine threat. If not, they hit Return-to-Base and the Eagle-AI goes back inside its perch.
If not the user selects Record and Inform. This send auto-alerts to the Police or a private security company. Eagle-AI has night vision of course. It also has enough memory for 45m of image recording, auto zooms on faces, hands and feet, plus utilises AI to estimate weight/height of would be offenders. This description is forwarded to the Police in 2 mins.
Pre-set fields mean Eagle-AI cannot fly beyond the pavement, or the property boundary by the way. That way you avoid collisions and claims with third parties. Max height is 60 feet, min height is 25 feet to minimise the risk of burglars using catapults or crossbows to shoot Eagle-AI down.
COSTS
Homeowners, or car owners who value their Range Rover, pay £200-£300 installation cost upfront and £25-£75pcm subscription. Various levels of enhanced response for more money. The idea is that people with assets worth protecting will be happy to pay for this tech – and the back-up that goes with it.
In return your car or home insurance gets a little reduction each year.
The contract is for 5 years, I figure that by then a new generation of drones, plus software will render the existing Eagle-AI models obsolete, so you can upgrade to the latest gizmo.
IS THIS SCI-FI POSSIBLE?
Well people said that Elon Musk couldn’t land a rocket booster on a platform in the sea, it would just explode on impact. So yes, it’s possible, like anything it needs R&D cash, willpower and regulators getting their heads around something they don’t understand. Big insurers in the Home and Motor sectors also need to wake up and re-think their tedious 1990s binary options like Contents, TPF&T or Fully Comp.
What people will actually need from Home insurance in the future is compensation for the trauma of armed attack, not a laptop being pinched. In 10 years time an actual immediate response by Police, or private security IS the insurance, not the payout after the event. People are being thrown to the wolves by various governments and public sector agencies. Insurance brands can seize the opportunity and offer a private security response plus evidence captured via Eagle-AI that makes prosecution possible, plus deters future robbery attempts as the crims realise they are being livestreamed, before they have had a chance to open the laptop and fire up the keycode reader.
You can’t copyright an idea, that’s why I’m giving it away. You need to build the tech, and the software – that’s the tricky part. If it works out let me know, IE will run a story on it.
The future belongs to those insurance brands who can help protect people, their families, and their most expensive assets.
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