What the Mind CAN'T Do Better

"Yep, looks like everything checks out"

    We often talk about what human beings can do better than machines, such as the value of Human Network Operations versus purly technical intelligence and the failings of algorithm-based analysis versus human intuation. Certain tasks, however, are performed much better by computers than human beings. Typically, people are better at tasks that require creativity while machines are more suited for repetitive work. The lines sometimes blur in surprising ways, however, such as in chess, where Gary Kasparov discovered that regular players with regular computers and expertise in "coaching" the machines could defeat both chess-playing supercomputers and grandmasters with computer assistance.

    The division of labor between man and machine has interesting security applications. Recently, Bill Daddio, former Chief of U.S. Mint Police, told me an interesting anecdote about the failings of the human mind. As the man who made Fort Knox "as safe as Fort Knox," Daddio was often asked to consult on other security installations. Once he was inspecting a facility's ID card checkpoints by planting several visitors with false IDs in which the picture did not match the holder among the regular visitors and employees.

    The guards knew that they were being tested, but they still let the visitors with the wrong ID's through. Surpsised, Daddio had somebody try to go through with no picture on their ID at all, just a large, red Roman numeral X. The holder was able to get through without a problem

    This was no Jedi mind trick but simply a natural response to repeated stimulus. Daddio found that after 80 to 100 correct ID's, the guards would become so accustiomed to seeing the picture match the holder that they would no longer pick up on differences. An executive officer of a surveillance technology firm told me the same thing for video monitoring. After a day of seeing nothing wrong or out of the ordinary, a person may grow bored, unatentive, or conditioned not to raise an alarm.

    This has little to do with training, as it is a deeply engrained natural process. Even highly trained police dogs suffer from the same effect. If a sniffer dog does not find anything for extended periods of time, handlers tend to distract the dog and start the search again. Machines, however, perform the first search like the last. They don't get tired, don't get bored, don't cut corners, and don't get distracted, which is why they have a growing role to play in security.

By Alex Olesker