Will AI Replace Transportation Security Screeners?

Inspect carry-on items, using x-ray viewing equipment, to determine whether items contain objects that warrant further investigation.

Semi-structured cognitive task involving analysis, inspection, or monitoring.

Search carry-on or checked baggage by hand when it is suspected to contain prohibited items such as weapons.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Check passengers' tickets to ensure that they are valid, and to determine whether passengers have designations that require special handling, such as providing photo identification.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Test baggage for any explosive materials, using equipment such as explosive detection machines or chemical swab systems.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Perform pat-down or hand-held wand searches of passengers who have triggered machine alarms, who are unable to pass through metal detectors, or who have been randomly identified for such searches.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Notify supervisors or other appropriate personnel when security breaches occur.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Send checked baggage through automated screening machines, and set bags aside for searching or rescreening as indicated by equipment.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Decide whether baggage that triggers alarms should be searched or should be allowed to pass through.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Follow those who breach security until police or other security personnel arrive to apprehend them.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Inform other screeners when baggage should not be opened because it might contain explosives.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Inspect checked baggage for signs of tampering.

Semi-structured cognitive task involving analysis, inspection, or monitoring.

Ask passengers to remove shoes and divest themselves of metal objects prior to walking through metal detectors.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Close entry areas following security breaches or reopen areas after receiving notification that the airport is secure.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Challenge suspicious people, requesting their badges and asking what their business is in a particular areas.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Patrol work areas to detect any suspicious items.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Contact police directly in cases of urgent security issues, using phones or two-way radios.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Record information about any baggage that sets off alarms in monitoring equipment.

Routine cognitive or manual task with high vulnerability to automation.

Watch for potentially dangerous persons whose pictures are posted at checkpoints.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Contact leads or supervisors to discuss objects of concern that are not on prohibited object lists.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Confiscate dangerous items and hazardous materials found in opened bags and turn them over to airlines for disposal.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Monitor passenger flow through screening checkpoints to ensure order and efficiency.

Semi-structured cognitive task involving analysis, inspection, or monitoring.

Inform passengers of how to mail prohibited items to themselves, or confiscate these items.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Provide directions and respond to passenger inquiries.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Direct passengers to areas where they can pick up their baggage after screening is complete.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

View images of checked bags and cargo, using remote screening equipment, and alert baggage screeners or handlers to any possible problems.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Locate suspicious bags pictured in printouts sent from remote monitoring areas, and set these bags aside for inspection.

Semi-structured cognitive task involving analysis, inspection, or monitoring.