As the UN Security Council convened last week to discuss the risks of Artificial Intelligence (AI), ASX-listed companies across sectors ranging from healthcare to security are finding ways to integrate the technology into their business.

AI has had a peripheral presence in the daily lives of consumers in the form of natural language processing (think Apple’s Siri), personalised recommendation systems (think Netflix suggesting what to watch) and much more.

It was not until November of 2022 when Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI came on the scene with its groundbreaking ChatGPT application, that AI began drawing wider global interest.

Since 2019, global corporate investments in AI have seen a 150% increase to ~US$180 billion and nearly 30-fold in 20 years. The ASX is no stranger to companies with AI integration as a cornerstone to their business offering.

Spectur’s long-standing association with AI

Among the plethora of Australian companies riding the AI wave is Spectur Limited (ASX: SP3), who brand themselves as providers of ‘Australia’s smartest security and warning solutions’.

“This advent of AI brings with it a wave of public and investor interest thus opening up a host of opportunities for Aussie businesses, even the ones loosely tied into and not fully involved with the trend,” Spectur Managing Director Dr Gerard Dyson said.

The Perth-based business manufactures and sells a broad range of sentry-like structures loaded with surveillance hardware that can be applied in a number of ways afforded to them by cloud, edge and Internet-of-Things technologies, with AI sitting at the centre.

Used by the likes of Surf Life Saving, Optus and many state and local government entities across the country, Spectur’s 100% Australian-made systems are protecting beachgoers from sharks and deterring crimes such as theft and vandalism.

Spectur’s systems stand out in their ability to, as Dr Dyson puts it, ‘Sense, Think and Act’. Following this mantra, Spectur’s solutions are made to be more intuitive and proactive over the capabilities of conventional security and surveillance systems.

“The hardware – cameras, sensors and microphones – makes up the ‘sense’ part,” Dr Dyson said. “The ‘think’ part is our edge and cloud processors leveraging AI tech to tell, for example, the difference between, a moving tree branch and a person who is a potential security threat.”

When Spectur’s AI senses something amiss, the ‘act’ part kicks in. “It can turn on bright, flashing lights, issue an audible warning that can be heard more than a kilometre away, open a gate remotely while simultaneously recording the data…the possibilities are near limitless.”

Dr Dyson also added that the company is becoming a platform for third-party AI providers whose back-end software security programs can be loaded onto and executed using Spectur’s hardware or even just use Spectur’s new modular power systems.

“Instead of having to develop their own hardware, which is capital intensive, they can buy, rent or lease from Spectur and stick to their knitting and what they’re good at,” he said. “They can even leverage our national and New Zealand presence in capital cities for service, installation, warehousing and support.”

More than 2,900 of Spectur’s devices are deployed through a 600+ strong customer base.

No borders nor limits for AI

It was noted by British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly at the aforementioned UN Security Council meeting that ‘AI knows no borders’ and could help address the effects of climate change.

“We see a broad range of scenarios where our systems can be implemented. Australia had its Black Summer in 2019-20 and countless floods since then. This year we have seen multiple reports of heatwaves and bushfires in the northern hemisphere,” Dr Dyson said.

He emphasised that Spectur’s systems can operate remotely in bushfire or flood prone areas, without the need for people, power or data cables, to monitor potential dangerous situations, alert the authorities to take the necessary steps to reduce the loss of lives and damage to property.

“The possibilities for Spectur with AI, now more than ever, are indeed limitless.”

Spectur will be holding a live investor briefing with MD Dr Gerard Dyson on Tuesday, 8th August at 1pm (AEST) to discuss the company’s strategy for growth and productivity. Click here to register or request the replay.

Reach Corporate provides Corporate Advisory Services, including managing investor communications on behalf of Spectur Limited and will receive fees for its services.

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