Global Courant
The US Department of Homeland Security is looking into ways it can use artificial intelligence to detect fentanyl and prevent it from entering the country.
The US border with Mexico is an important gateway for the flow of people and trade. But it has also become an increasingly sensitive spot due to the increase in smuggling of dangerous drugs, such as fentanyl.
To address this growing concern, in April, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the creation of a new task force.
“Drug trafficking organizations have strengthened both in terms of sophistication and their power.”
This group will examine, among other things, how artificial intelligence can be used to detect and combat drug smuggling.
“We will consider the use of this technology to be effective in detecting shipments of fentanyl, as well as identifying and stopping the traffic of substances used for their production, aiming to disrupt the main nodes of criminal networks.”
Pat Simmons, who previously served as director of the US Customs and Border Protection Agency, says that there are systems today that can be further improved thanks to artificial intelligence.
He cites as an example what is known as the Muon system, or muography, which is able to produce a more accurate image of the object being scanned than the X-ray technology currently in use.
“X-rays cannot penetrate a dense charge. But muography can do that, allowing border agents to see exactly what’s inside a dense facility.”
When the agency begins using the artificial intelligence technology alongside the existing Muon systems, the work of these systems will be more effective, detecting where fentanyl is hidden in shipping containers full of cargo.
Mr. Simmons says that this system along with artificial intelligence can be used to identify those substances that are used to make fentanyl.
“So what needs to be done is to teach the artificial intelligence what we are looking for. So you have to take some of these chemical substances that come from China and teach the system through thousands of scans so that it starts to understand what it is looking for.”
Likewise, artificial intelligence can come to the rescue thanks to information and predictive analysis, in cases of crossing the border.
“Who are the people crossing the border and how often? Likewise, the information you have on the vehicle and license, how often you have encountered them. So there are some types of information that I would upload to artificial intelligence to see what kind of analysis it would provide,” says Gil Kerlikowske, former Commissioner of Border Protection.
Artificial intelligence can be used to detect crushed fentanyl that looks like candy, or legally manufactured prescription pills, Mr. Kerlikowske says.
“If the intelligence can find out where the pill is and what stamp it has, that would be useful for border agents to at least be alerted,” Gil Kerlikowske, Former Border Protection Commissioner.
The artificial intelligence task force is expected to present its findings to the Department of Homeland Security in the coming months./ VOA
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