Artificial Intelligence to Play Bigger Role in Screening Passengers
Canada embarks on a new era in border policing after introducing an artificial system to help officers vet visitors at ports. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has initiated a pilot program at select land borders and plans to roll it out nationwide over the next few years.
Also Read Canada Starts Using AI to Screen Travelers at the Border
A New Border Inspector’s Device
The system, called the Travel Compliance Indicator (TCI), builds an electronic dossier for each traveler. Rather than make judgments autonomously, it provides a compliance score suggesting to officers if a traveler needs additional questioning or scrutiny.
With help from predictive models and past data, the tool finds evidence of patterns that might suggest whether someone is likely to obey Canadian tradition and immigration rules.
Where the Program Stands Today
Today, six land border locations host the TCI, but none by name from the Government. All land ports of entry will have it by 2027, according to CBSA’s deployment roadmap, followed by subsequent deployment at the air and marine ports.
How it All Works
TCI cross-references real-time data acquired with historical data spanning years of CBSA files. Some of the data it reviews are:
- Previous travel experience to Canada
- Vehicle or transport information
- Type of evidence provided
- Whether one is going alone or accompanied by someone
The program passes this data through predetermined compliance patterns and outputs a score that becomes a guideline for the responding officer.
Why is AI Being Used
The CBSA alleges it wants to apply TCI as a solution to two issues:
- Cutting wait times at borders – Too many travelers are unnecessarily sent for secondary screening, causing them to face lengthy wait times. The new system will help diminish false referrals.
- Handling growing volumes – With rising global movement, CBSA argues that technology enables scaling volumes of traffic at borders without necessarily requiring expansion in manning.
The plant is an over $15 million facility whose maintenance requirement per year was estimated at $700,000.
Balancing Efficiency and Accuracy
Although officials view the system as a step towards more modernization, they have conceded that it is risky. If it incidentally advises more screening, it will unduly stress out passengers. For this reason, CBSA remains firm in insisting that final authority will always rest with human officers and not with the A.I. itself.
What it Means for Visitors
Few tourists will notice firsthand as they are processed by border authorities, despite this process incorporating interactions with border officers. Behind the scenes, though, artificial intelligence is playing an ever-greater role in informing decision-making that could result in faster and more convenient processing for observant visitors.
Looking Ahead
As Canada continues to incorporate greater use of technology in border processing, the TCI is one of the first large-scale endeavours to introduce AI to the national security system of Canada. If successful, travelers will enjoy a faster, more data-driven border experience, less reliant on car checks, although one that will nonetheless use human inspection to ensure equity.
