Surveillance cameras equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology are to be used to look for any signs of abuse at one of the city’s residential homes for children, the government said on Friday.

The AI ​​should automatically raise the alarm if it detects inappropriate behavior such as children being slapped or shaken.

Welfare Secretary Chris Sun said money for the technology was made available to the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children (HKSPC) after its Children’s Residential Home in Prince Edward was embroiled in an abuse scandal involving multiple members of staff in 2021.

“To help the Society for the Protection of Children improve the quality of care given to children and increase their efficiency in monitoring childcare services, the government has appropriated money from the Lotteries Fund, allowing the society to use AI technology in surveillance cameras, so that inappropriate actions can be identified at an early stage,” Sun said at a seminar on child protection.

The AI-equipped cameras should be in use from June next year, the ministry added.

HKSPC said that two years ago it began monitoring its surveillance camera footage on a weekly basis.

“There are two levels of monitoring, first by Children’s Residential Home staff. They will randomly choose two hours of CCTV footage to review and see if there is any misbehavior or questionable behavior,” said director Subrina Chow.

“It will then be followed by a second review from a child safeguarding consultant. They will review what has already been reviewed by first level staff, and randomly choose another two hours of footage to see if there is any condition that requires attention.”