The market for artificial intelligence (AI) enabled video surveillance cameras has seen rapid growth in recent years as the technology becomes more mature and commercially viable.

According to estimates from our latest research, the adoption of AI cameras capable of running deep learning on-device will increase from 18% in 2022 to 52% by 2028. This rapid growth will be driven by an unprecedented expansion in the variety of applications developed for the evolving capabilities of AI for video surveillance in a number of industry sectors.

Funding for research and development into AI solutions across the industry continues to expand, with a Security Industry Association poll of members in 2022 finding that 13% of overall investment is now tied to AI-related opportunities, compared to only 2% back in 2019. Other data analyzed by our study also shows the competition rising in the video surveillance market.

“The race is clearly now on between camera manufacturers to integrate next-generation AI-enabled security functionality into end-user focused applications in a way that facilitates accessibility, practicality and ease of use for everyday video surveillance and security scenarios,” our new study explains. “Successful businesses are preparing their operations for the future and want a video surveillance system that is AI capable and has the flexibility to run advanced analytics.”

Over 50% of businesses are using AI in some way, with over 25% reporting widespread AI adoption within their company, according to data in a 2022 AI business survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The survey suggests that businesses that are not already using AI know that the latest technologies will automate their systems and processes in the future and most are budgeting for the infrastructure now. Video surveillance systems that are capable of running AI help businesses scale their ability to analyze and act on data.

AI-Based Video Analytics implementations have the ability to ease the burden of repetitive and tedious tasks of video monitoring by humans. AI not only observes data but can also be trained with large volumes of video footage to detect, identify, categorize and automatically tag specific objects. AI’s ability to identify specific behaviours and objects enhances the system’s effectiveness. Companies that capitalize on AI can provide customers with advanced security solutions and deliver valuable insights into customer behaviour, ultimately leading to new revenue opportunities and an elevated customer experience.

“There’s just too much data there for humans to watch. We’d have to have one of every eight people in the world watching a camera if you wanted to watch them all,” said Dean Drako, Eagle Eye Networks CEO and founder. “But in the new world, AI is actually going to watch all the billion cameras across the globe and find problems.”

AI Applications for Video Surveillance

AI enables a wide range of video surveillance applications spanning security, safety, efficiency, and customer experience, and facial recognition is a key element in many of those applications. For access control in commercial buildings, facial recognition provides a highly secure yet seamless biometric authentication method to verify authorized individuals. And, for crime and loss prevention, law enforcement agencies and retail establishments are increasingly using facial recognition to identify known individuals for protective actions.

Beyond faces, AI-enhanced intrusion behaviour detection systems have shown remarkable efficacy in distinguishing between genuine security threats and benign interferences. By differentiating between human intruders, verified visitors, or stray animals the system is able to identify threats and reduce false alarms, for example. AI surveillance can also monitor crowd dynamics to identify loitering, and flag disruptive or suspicious behaviour, providing a more proactive approach to security management.

From a safety perspective, AI algorithms can analyze posture and movement to detect if an individual, such as an elderly person, has tripped or fallen. This feature has gained attention in elder-care facilities and hospitals where timely medical intervention is critical to prevent serious injuries. Fire and smoke detection is another safety application where AI adds significant value. Advanced algorithms can differentiate between actual fire scenarios and false alarms such as steam or fog, leading to quicker response times and potentially life saving responses.

Beyond humans, AI also enables object detection and recognition to power capabilities like toll booth automation, parking management, and traffic monitoring by identifying vehicles, and supports threat detection by spotting prohibited items like firearms or unattended bags. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and License Plate Recognition (LPR) allow AI cameras to automatically read and recognize license plates on vehicles to facilitate a range of traffic and parking applications.

AI-Enabled Compression for Video Surveillance

AI’s impact on video surveillance is not just about better detection, they also play a pivotal role in video compression and encoding with new standards like H.265 that allow for higher-quality video at lower bandwidths. By analyzing the content of individual video frames, AI can identify static or non-changing areas that do not need to be re-encoded in full in each frame. This approach is known as AI-based selective encoding and allows the same visual information to be conveyed using far fewer bits.

“Compression reduces the encoding workload significantly, resulting in lighter video streams that require less network bandwidth and storage. Some AI-powered selective encoding techniques can reduce bitrate requirements by 50% without compromising visual quality,” our new report states. “As video resolutions and AI capabilities improve over time, intelligent selective encoding will become even more critical for optimizing encoding efficiency in video surveillance systems and overcome the challenges associated with ultra HD security camera feeds.”

From improving security and safety, to enhancing the customer experience and technical efficiency, AI is now embedding itself within video surveillance solutions. AI won’t just improve video surveillance, it will make it feasible for a new range of customers and it will facilitate more surveillance, from more cameras, in a rapidly growing technology space.