Privacy for Inglewood Pool swimmers dominated debate before the City of Stirling council approved $220,000 for AI software to detect potential drownings.
The council voted 11-4 in favour of allowing Lynxight Aquatic Safety Technology to be installed at Inglewood Pools in the Terry Tyzack Aquatic Centre.
It is expected to cost $220,000 to install and $48,000 per year for licensing.
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READ NOWThe city began investigating the technology after major incidents at Stirling pools over the past five years, including the death of a 29-year-old man at Leisurepark Balga in November 2019, a 16-year-old boy losing consciousness at the bottom of the pool and requiring resuscitation at Inglewood Pool in December 2020, and a toddler suffering febrile convulsions and requiring resuscitation at Inglewood Pool in March 2021.
It recorded 194 incidents in 2023, including 13 major and four incidents which involved “aquatic rescues”.
Artificial intelligence at the outdoor pools, which are currently being built, are intended to notify lifeguards of behaviours associated with drowning as an extra safety net.
The new Inglewood outdoor pools, which will include 10x50m lanes and four 25m lanes, are expected to have 25 cameras.
A council report expected the large body of water to attract a high patronage, along with “surface reflection risks which inevitably impact pool surveillance.”
“Cameras are connected to powerful AI which accelerates lifeguard response through smartwatch alerts,” it said.
“When the system recognises an alert situation, it notifies lifeguards who can then immediately determine whether there is an emergency and respond accordingly.
“The system will also assist with supervision of blind spots while also providing analytics such as pool usage heat maps to improve lifeguard supervision patterns and inform aquatic lane management.”
The report said the Lynxight technology used above-ground cameras to monitor swimmer behaviour and delivered real-time understanding of what happened both above and below the water.
However, debate was raised over the security of the footage and who could gain access.
The report said the footage would be stored on local CCTV and interpreted by the Lynxight AI system on a local server, with the data accessible only to the city’s security systems team leader and security systems officer, “with access likely to also be granted to the Inglewood pool facility manager for operational purposes”.
Footage data would be blurred through the local server to prevent recognition while retaining enough information for the AI learning machine.
“The images on our end are not blurred; the City of Stirling will have access to and will be able to see very clear, 5MP video footage before being sent to Lynxight for their technology to analyse it,” Cr Michael Dudek said.
“I have no concern about our current staff members and managers in this role. I know they will treat this data with the upmost integrity.
“I know the intention of this system is to save lives. I think we need to think very carefully of the unintended consequences and privacy invasions that this could enable.”
Stirling deputy mayor Suzanne Migdale said council members had held thorough discussions with city officers about privacy procedures.
“This is about valuing the safety and well being of our residents,” she said.
“This is about valuing life, this is about the difference between a drowning person being pulled out within 30 seconds or three minutes, the difference between the damage that could do to their brain.
“Essentially it is a $220,000 insurance system which will alert our lifeguards should for any reason they not see somebody drowning.”
The technology will also be considered for Leisurepark Balga and Scarborough Beach Pool over the following two financial years.
Cr David Lagan questioned the amount of money spent by the city and the ongoing costs.
“Upfront we have to put up $220,000 and suggesting we’re going to do that three times (for Inglewood, Balga and Scarborough pools),” he said.
“Nearly $1 million to support a private company and they’re asking for us to put up $48,000 per year for analytics of data that may or may not be useful for us.
“My view is with greater training and increased number of staff, these incidents shouldn’t happen and we shouldn’t have to use AI to cover swimmers in our pools.”
The council was also told WA Police could gain access to the underwater footage if crimes were committed in the water.