Motorola Solutions CTO Mahesh Saptharishi: AI-powered cameras can save 10,000 lives a year

Mahesh Saptharishi is also responsible for Motorola's public safety software and video security and access control solutions. (Image credit: AFP, Motorola Solutions)

Motorola Solutions' Chief Technology Officer (CTO) believes that a network of AI-powered security cameras can save up to 10,000 lives per year.  Mahesh Saptharishi, who is also responsible for the company’s public safety software and video security and access control solutions, said the "smart" cameras would speed up how first responders act on public safety incidents.

Speaking at Fortune’s Brainstorm AI conference recently, Saptharishi explained that first responders often encounter problems related to language barriers on 911 calls. With AI capabilities like real-time language translation and image recognition, it can help them respond faster. He estimated that saving 60 seconds from the average 911 response time could save lives.

“Everything the cameras do is built in,” Saptharishi said, elaborating that "smart" cameras with those data detection and analysis abilities don’t cost much more than a more basic or “dumb camera.”

These cameras can also help the police in surveillance.

The Motorola executive shared an example of a parent whose child went missing describing to a 911 operator what they looked like. That description could be immediately “pushed to every single camera in that locality” and “automatically distributed to law enforcement” as Motorola supplies police departments, schools, and more with video technologies, Saptharishi said. He added that the descriptions would be shared in a way that protects an individual’s privacy as the data is selectively processed.

Saptharishi's comments come months after Motorola and Massachusetts police were hit with a lawsuit alleging residents were unlawfully secretly recorded by the Massachusetts police using Motorola “intercepting devices” in violation of law and consumers’ civil rights.