DALLAS — Mikha Sabu and a team of specialists patrol busy terminals at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, retrieving valuable shipments left behind by passengers and returning them to lost and found.
“Once we find that item for them, they will be so happy,” Sabu, who works in the airport’s lost and found department, told CBS News.
In a typical DFW year, more than 18,000 pieces are reported to be lost through commuters.
But with the help of artificial intelligence, about 90% of the lost items found are returned to their owners, the airport said.
How does it work? The user will first have to report the missing item and then present the main points about the missing item. The AI software then tries to fit the main points of the article with photographs and descriptions of the discovered items. Once the fit is confirmed, the item is then shipped to the owner.
The lost and found software, operated through Hallmark Aviation Services, is also used at 11 airports.
Shimaa Fadul, who manages the day-to-day operations of the Lost & Found DFW, explains that by searching for distinguishing marks, such as stickers or serial numbers, AI can help locate any object.
Thus, this year, Fadul’s team has recovered around six hundred rings and more than 400 watches, in addition to seven Rolexes, all abandoned by their owners.
However, Fadul says one of the most valuable pieces found by her team is a wedding dress that returned just 24 hours before the bride’s big day.
“And you cannot imagine that she doesn’t have anything to wear on her wedding day,” Fadul said, adding that the airport overnighted the dress to her, and it made it in time for the wedding.
It marks a “real” problem that is being solved with “artificial” intelligence.