Will AI replace Security Guards?

The core of your work stays human. For you, AI is mainly an amplifier.

Task exposure to today's AI

27/100

Low exposure

This is the occupation's typical task mix. Your own score can be up to 30 points higher or lower depending on how you work: routine share, people contact, judgment and how much you already use AI.

Get your personal score

Will AI replace Security Guards?

Not entirely. Today's AI tools can take on about 27% of the typical work in this occupation, mostly: write reports of daily activities and irregularities, such as equipment or property damage, theft, presence of unauthorized persons, or unusual occurrences. The parts that stay human include: Monitor and authorize entrance and departure of employees, visitors, and other persons to guard against theft and maintain security of premises.; Patrol industrial or commercial premises to prevent and detect signs of intrusion and ensure security of doors, windows, and gates.; Circulate among visitors, patrons, or employees to preserve order and protect property..

People who learn to use AI for the automatable parts keep the edge. The 3-phase plan below shows where to start.

Which tasks AI can take on

The largest tasks in this occupation, their share of the working week, and how much of each today's AI tools can do.

TaskAutomatable

Write reports of daily activities and irregularities, such as equipment or property damage, theft, presence of unauthorized persons, or unusual occurrences. 75%

Answer telephone calls to take messages, answer questions, and provide information during non-business hours or when switchboard is closed. 70%

Patrol industrial or commercial premises to prevent and detect signs of intrusion and ensure security of doors, windows, and gates. 30%

Monitor and authorize entrance and departure of employees, visitors, and other persons to guard against theft and maintain security of premises. 17%

Answer alarms and investigate disturbances. 12%

Circulate among visitors, patrons, or employees to preserve order and protect property. 10%

+ 8 more tasks (19% of the week) in the full test.

Your human edge

Monitor and authorize entrance and departure of employees, visitors, and other persons to guard against theft and maintain security of premises.
Patrol industrial or commercial premises to prevent and detect signs of intrusion and ensure security of doors, windows, and gates.
Circulate among visitors, patrons, or employees to preserve order and protect property.

AI tools to try

ChatGPT / Claude for reports and summariesVideo analytics and alerting systemsTranscription tools

Related roles

A 3-phase AI learning plan

Phase 1

Faster reports

Incident reports drafted from your notes with AI, checked by you.
Summaries of long documents and procedures.
Follow rules on personal and sensitive data.

Project

Draft 10 incident reports from your shift notes with AI, anonymising all names and ID details, and compare average writing time against your last 10 handwritten reports.

Phase 2

Working with AI systems

How video analytics and alerting systems work, and where they fail.
False alarms and bias: when to trust and when to check.
Clear handover between system alerts and human decisions.

Project

Log every camera analytics or alarm trigger for two weeks, classify each as true or false, and write a one-page note on the top 3 failure patterns and when to verify in person.

Phase 3

Specialise

Training in security technology or analysis.
Procedures that combine AI tools with human judgment.
Mentor newer colleagues.

Project

Write a site procedure that pairs AI alerts with human verification steps, then coach two newer guards through it and record their error rate before and after.

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