Remember when a school's AI system mistook a student's bag of chips for a firearm? A Florida high school had a similar incident, but it involved a clarinet. Although this time, school officials and the AI developer say the system worked correctly.
Remember when a school's AI system mistook a student's bag of chips for a firearm? A Florida high school had a similar incident, but it involved a clarinet. Although this time, school officials and the AI developer say the system worked correctly.
The ZeroEyes school security system with artificial intelligence has mistaken a clarinet for a weapon, writes Ars Technica.
The police immediately responded to the AI system's report of "a man in camouflage holding a suspicious object aimed at the hallway, just like a rifle is held while shooting."
However, finding no evidence of a shooter, the police checked with dispatchers, who confirmed that a more detailed analysis of the images indicated that "the suspected rifle could have been a musical instrument."
Among the panicked students hiding in the music room, police eventually found the suspect - a schoolboy dressed as a military character from the Christmas movie 'Red One' for a holiday party at the school.
ZeroEyes co-founder Sam Alaimo believes that the AI acted exactly as it should in this case, taking a “better safe than sorry” approach.
"We don't think we made a mistake, and neither does the school," Alaimo said. "It was better to send than not to send."
The police left after the confused student confirmed he "didn't even realize" that the way he was holding the clarinet could have triggered an alarm.
However, a ZeroEyes spokesperson said the boy “intentionally held the tool in a rifle-to-shoulder position.” And instead of investigating why the images weren’t checked more thoroughly to prevent false alarms, the school appears to have agreed with ZeroEyes and placed the blame on the student.
In a letter to parents, school principal Melissa Laudani said: "While there was no threat to the facility, I would like to ask that you talk to your children about the dangers of imitation weapons on school grounds."
