A local council in Queensland has embraced artificial intelligence to help keep swimmers safe over summer. The new technology is a first for the state, using overhead camera to detect unusual movements in the water and sends a smart watch and sends alerts to lifeguards through a smart watch on their wrists.
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00:00The new AI-powered cameras are a Queensland first.
00:06So they're installed here at this pool in Kingston, which is part of Logan, just south
00:11of Brisbane.
00:12The cameras monitor the pools and when they notice someone in distress, they send an alert
00:19to a smartwatch on the wrist of the lifeguards.
00:22Now Logan's mayor, John Raven, has insisted that this new system is not a replacement
00:28for lifeguards, rather it helps them in their jobs by giving them eyes in parts of the pool
00:35that they could be far away from where they're patrolling.
00:38This will not cut down on lifeguard numbers, but we will use the data to make sure we have
00:42enough lifeguards at the right time of day to keep our community safe.
00:46In 2016, and it was literally weeks after I became a councillor, we had a young girl
00:50at Bethania Pool who was playing with her parents moments before they lost sight of
00:55her and she tragically drowned.
00:57Had we had this technology then, those vital moments where she was in the water would have
01:01been saved and a lifeguard could have gotten to her in time.
01:05The important thing to remember is cameras and technology do not save lives.
01:09Lifeguards do.
01:10That's why they are so important.
01:11Now the AI cameras are powered by an organisation called LinkSight.
01:16They say that although this is a first in Queensland, the cameras are being used successfully
01:23at about 75 pools across Australia.
01:27They say that they're in discussions with other local governments here in Queensland
01:30about potentially further rolling out the technology here.