Using AI to detect weapons in schools

By Alessio Jacona *

In the aftermath of the umpteenth shooting in an American school, this time costing the lives of 21 people including 19 children, there are those in the United States who try to use artificial intelligence if not to prevent these tragedies, at least to act promptly and limit the damage.

In fact, as The Detroit News reveals, at Oxford High School in Detroit, Michigan, an experiment began in April that connects AI software to security cameras.

Thanks to this system developed by the ZeroEyes company, the school - which is the same where on November 21 another killer killed four people and injured seven others - has "increased" the surveillance system already present in the structure (100 cameras) with a technology capable of detecting subjects who wield weapons.

If this happens, the AI ​​immediately takes a photo which first enriches with useful information such as the place and time it was taken and the type of weapon identified, then sends it to school managers, security personnel and 911 operators. now the limit is that the software cannot detect hidden weapons (for example under clothing), and therefore can only report the threat when the potential killer decides to act.

However, that would already be a lot, because it would already mean greatly reducing the intervention times of security officers, potentially saving lives.

The trial started in Oxford High School will continue until June 2023, but is also underway in other schools spread across 14 states.

ZeroEyes, which was founded in 2018 by NavySeal (members of the Navy's special forces) and military veterans, also has the US Department of Defense, colleges and universities, factories, malls and department stores, and even the Department among its customers. of Defense.

The start of the trial in Detroit has also reinvigorated the debate on how these surveillance systems may or may not violate students' privacy and affect their own perception of the school environment: in response, the managers of ZeroEyes specified that their technology it does not perform facial recognition and does not record the video stream, but limits itself to analyzing it to intervene and photograph only in case of need.

* Journalist, innovation expert and curator of the Artificial Intelligence Observatory