Source : ABC NEWS
In a world where sports stadiums are considered potential terrorist targets, AI security screening has been hailed as the future. In theory, it’s a win-win for venues and patrons.
Crowds stream seamlessly through electronic gates that detect potential weapons, prompting a tap on the shoulder for a few people by security waving scanning wands.
But on Thursday night, the potential dangers of this technology were on full view at Australia’s biggest stadium.
Among the tens of thousands of footy fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), two men were allegedly carrying guns.
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They had allegedly brought firearms through the MCG’s new AI-driven security system, the first of its kind in the country.
The weapons were allegedly discovered only after the men’s behaviour caught the attention of police, who searched them.
No-one was hurt in the incident — and police have ruled out terrorism — but the security breach has shocked the wider community.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan called for a review of security at the venue.
Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) chief executive Stuart Fox said the incident was “extremely disappointing and upsetting”.
The screening technology in place at the MCG — called Evolv Express — has come under fire in the United States over failures to detect weapons in schools.
An Evolv security scanner at the MCG. (LinkedIn)
Mr Fox said the breach at the MCG was ultimately due to human error.
“Our security screening units identified items of concern and further investigation was required, our initial internal investigation identified a breakdown in the thoroughness of the secondary and manual screening process,” he said via a statement.
Neil Fergus, a former ASIO agent whose security firm has worked on major international events including the Olympics, said this was “not how it’s supposed to work”.
“It’s very smart AI-based technology,” he said.
“The purpose of the system is to let everybody through, with the exception of those that alert — then they’re subject to a secondary check and intervention.
Neil Fergus, a former ASIO officer turned international security consultant, says AI security screening is the “way of the future” at major stadiums – but operators have to know what they’re doing. (Four Corners, file photo)
“‘Excuse me, sir, excuse me, madam, I need to check your bag. I’m going to run this electronic hand wand over your person,’ and away we go.”
But when things go wrong in crowded places like the MCG the consequences can be grave.
According to ASIO, sports stadiums on big event days are among the favoured targets of terrorists.
“With the threats — real threats — that were detected and thwarted at the Paris Olympics, it’s a whole new paradigm for major events,”
Mr Fergus said.
Technology company faces court
Evolv Express involves touchless scanners specifically to detect “concealed weapons “, according to the US-based company’s website.
It said its “advanced sensor technology and artificial intelligence” picked up a variety of weapons and was running at stadiums, schools and hospitals across the US for several years.
Mr Fergus said it was “used extensively across the United States, including for the Super Bowl, including the two big major football stadiums in LA”.
“And my understanding was that the MCC went and looked at its operation before engaging the provider here to install and implement it,” he said.
It was first used during the Taylor Swift concerts at the MCG in early 2024 when 300,000 fans poured through the stadium gates.
American singer songwriter Taylor Swift performed to record-breaking crowds at the MCG in February 2024. (AAP: Joel Carrett)
But recent court cases in the United States have put the capabilities of this technology into question.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Evolv over the technology’s use in schools, its lawsuit alleging the company made false claims about its AI-powered security screening system.
The case settled in late 2024, with Evolv not required to admit or deny any of the allegations.
However, as part of the settlement, the FTC prohibited Evolv from making claims about the technology’s ability to detect weapons, to ignore harmless personal items and its weapons detection accuracy.
Court documents also say Evolv was not allowed to make claims about “any material aspect of its performance, efficacy, nature, or central characteristics” including its use of algorithms and artificial intelligence.
The regulator also gave some US schools who installed Evolv Express the option to cancel their contract.
In response, Evolv Technology interim CEO Mike Ellenbogen said the case related to previous marketing materials, and did not challenge the “fundamental effectiveness of our technology”.
“To be clear, this inquiry was about past marketing language and not our system’s ability to add value to security operations,” he said at the time.
Evolv is also the subject of two class action lawsuits, with similar allegations aired about whether the company overstated the technology’s capabilities.
Police allege two men had firearms on them when they attended a Thursday night football match at the MCG. (Supplied)
Further concerns about effectiveness
Conor Healy, the director of government research at US-based group IPVM, said the company’s transparency about its technology was concerning.
He said IPVM, which focuses on surveillance and security technologies, had been investigating the company since 2021.
It has found Evolv has allegedly overstated the ability of its machines to differentiate weapons from ordinary metal items.
Conor Healy from independent technology assessment firm IPVM says his organisation’s investigation into Evolv Express found the company had overstated the machines’ ability. (Supplied)
Part of the concern, as indicated in an IPVM report from 2022, is the false positive rate for these machines.
Mr Healy said it could range from 5 to 60 per cent, which varied depending on the sensitivity setting.
While he said every detection system had false positives, a higher number could lead to security guards being complacent.
“When you have it going off on all these items that aren’t weapons, if an operator eventually fails to do a secondary screening of someone … you can call that human error. But another term for it is operator fatigue,” Mr Healy said.
“A whole bunch of false positives being set off could potentially lead to people not taking the manual security checks as seriously as perhaps they should be, and security guards might not have the time to do so if they’re dealing with a big crowd.”
The MCG’s AI-driven security technology is the first of its kind to be used in Australia. (ABC News: Patrick Rocca)
Mr Healy also said he knew of businesses which scaled down security staff after installing the technology, which could potentially make the problem worse.
In a 2020 media release, Evolv hinted at the potential for cutting staff, saying its clients “optimise the performance of their security teams while reducing screening expenses by as much as 70 per cent”.
The MCC declined to say whether it now had fewer security staff.
While Mr Healy said he did not know specifics about how the MCG technology was set up, he said Evolv’s messaging could lead to a “false sense of security”.
“What we’ve so often seen with Evolve is an attempt to not be forthcoming with the public about the level of security that’s being offered,” he said.
‘Way of the future’
Mr Fergus, the security expert, said if the AI screening system was giving so many false positives that security stopped paying attention, it wasn’t being used correctly.
“It needs to be tested, calibrated on a regular basis, and have operators that know how that’s supposed to be functioning,” he said.
“Secondary screening should not be overwhelmed by false positives.
“If it’s calibrated properly, there’ll be very few false positives.
“I’ve done 11 Olympic Games, four FIFA World Cups, six or seven Commonwealth Games and this [AI screening] is absolutely the way of the future.”
He said the scanning abilities of the AI system were basically the same as older metal detectors.
“The advantage of it is it provides for a much speedier throughput, higher footfall, with less intrusiveness in terms of clients,” he said.
He said it improved on a dire scenario showcased by the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.
“For the first two days, ministers were apologising to the public, families were in tears, an hour and a half late getting into the stadium to watch the opening ceremony because of the screening,” Mr Fergus said.
“It took a while to fix it. And to be honest, one of the ways it was fixed was they started to push more people through with less rigorous secondary searching — not good.”
For now, Victoria’s Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos said security measures would be strengthened at the MCG this weekend, and a review of the security settings would be shared with other venues across the state.
The MCC has declined to provide further comment as the incident is now before the court.
