AI in the swimming pool? Baden-Württemberg says yes

The technology can help save swimmers from drowning after being trained to recognize unusual moves in the water

The Baden-Württemberg Public Swimming Pool Association told the German Press Agency (DPA) that the use of AI in the pools is likely to become more and more widespread following one year of a pilot project implemented at the Panorama-Bad in Freudenstadt. And even though there’s a shortage of lifeguards, the innovation doesn’t mean that humans will be replaced by machines.

The swimming pool complex in question trained an AI system to recognize and detect unusual movements in the water and to alert the lifeguards so they can respond more quickly.

The AI camera can send a signal, for example, if it detects a motionless person in the water or if it detects overcrowding in the swimming pool.

Admittedly, the training period of the system meant that there were a lot of false alarms in the process but that is part and parcel of learning, even for a machine.  However, and fortunately so, there has not yet been an incident in which lives had to be saved with the help of AI support. 

Lifeguards will have AI exams

AI-based monitoring in swimming pools is in use in Freudenstadt and Karlsruhe. Other swimming pool operators, for example in Pforzheim, are also planning to do the same.

The spread of AI technology in the swimming pools means that lifeguards will also have to know how to work with it.

"As part of the master craftsman's examination, we are planning, among other things, to assign topics involving AI-based technology as written assignments for supervision in order to reduce inhibitions and bias when dealing with such systems," explained Necdet Mantar from the Baden-Württemberg Public Swimming Pool Association, quoted by SWR.

So-called drowning detection systems have been around for years. What is new about the AI-supported technology is the ability to identify certain movements as a danger before an actual emergency occurs. The new system does not store images in a database, which ensures privacy.