How AI could be used to detect guns before school shootings

2022-06-10 20:45:25 By : Ms. Jane kuang

With little progress on gun control measures in Congress, some envision next-generation weapons detection technologies as a potential deterrent to mass shootings.

Why it matters: In theory, if authorities could use artificial intelligence to spot guns or identify potential shooters earlier, they might be able to head off gun violence like the school massacres in Uvalde, Texas, Oxford, Mich., and Parkland, Fla.

Driving the news: Many Republicans, including former U.S. President Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, have called for tougher school security measures, including single points of entry, metal detectors, more school police and armed teachers.

How it works: Some companies are promoting AI technologies as a less obtrusive and more effective alternative to metal detectors and other systems.

Evolv uses a combination of ultra-low frequency electromagnetic fields and advanced sensors to detect concealed weapons as people walk through a portal.

Hexwave, developed at a Massachusetts Institute of Technology lab and licensed by Liberty Defense Holdings, is a similar system. It uses 3D imaging and AI to detect concealed weapons as people walk between two panels.

ZeroEyes, used by schools in 18 states and now being piloted at Oxford High, integrates its AI software with a school's existing surveillance cameras to identify guns in a camera's field of view. (Assailants often brandish their weapon before a rampage, the company says.)

The big question is whether these systems will prevent future shootings.