Technology
Free AI Weapon Detection App Can Prevent School Shootings
AI Weapon Detection
School shootings are sudden and horrific events. There have been 394 school shootings in North America since 1999. These events are marked by panic, chaos, confusion, and missing information. But now, AI weapon detection systems are being used to stop school shootings before they even happen. Some highly motivated companies are even offering these systems for free.
Iterate.ai Open Source Threat Detection
Iterate.ai is a tech company that is offering a free AI weapon detection system to help stop school shooters in their tracks. The AI has been trained to detect guns, knives, kevlar vests, and robbery masks.
Brian Sathianathan, Chief Technology Officer at Iterate.ai, says schools and universities need technology like this. Offering an open-source version of the system is the most effective way to get it into as many schools as possible.
Are you a Non-Profit That Could Use an AI Gun Weapon Detection System?
The GitHub code for the threat detection system is available on the iterate.ai website. This encourages software developers, UX designers, and AI engineers to make the app even better than it is. Iterate.ai wants to encourage non-profits like schools and religious institutions to use the system.
There is no single miracle answer to a complicated problem like school violence, but AI weapon detection systems could protect thousands of people.
How Does an AI Weapon Detection System Work?
The AI weapon detection system scans hundreds of items in a given space at a time. It then uses algorithms to instantly detect a gun or knife being carried into the area. When it catches something dangerous, it signals the authorities within seconds. It can even track the individual as they move throughout the building.
In past attacks, distressed survivors have provided police with contradicting and confused information. This can cost officers vital time in stopping the shooter. However, with AI weapon detection technology, police can enter into active situations with vital information already available to them. It is even possible for them to receive second-to-second updates about the suspect’s location and actions.
How Does AI Scan for Weapons?
Every AI gun detection system uses scanning software. By categorizing hundreds of items in a space, the AI weapon scanning software can zero in on threats. An AI is trained on data from videos and fictional scenarios that help it develop an understanding of what it’s looking for, and what a particularly dangerous situation looks like.
Iterate.ai weapon detection, for example, has been programmed to instantly recognize a variety of weapons. This includes handguns, semi-automatic weapons, bulletproof vests, and knives that are more than six inches long.
This particular AI was trained on 20,000 videos of robberies involving weapons over the last twenty years.
The Future of AI Weapon Detection Systems in School
There is no single miracle answer to a complicated problem like school shootings, but An AI gun detection system provides hope that many dangerous situations will be averted in the future. The future beyond 2024 looks bright, and now, it is more likely that we can send our children to school and see them return safely even if a bad situation does happen.
IC Inspiration
Arguably, one of the strongest voices in the endless struggle with school violence comes from a girl whose voice was silenced many years ago.
Rachel Joy Scott was the first person killed in the Columbine massacre. She was only 17 years old.
However, even amid such horror, something amazing arose.
There were things about Rachel that even her family didn’t know. She was a compassionate and generous person who had a dream to reach out to those who needed it the most.
In her diary, she wrote: “I want to reach out to those with special needs because they are often overlooked. I want to reach out to those who are new in school because they don’t have any friends yet. And I want to reach out to those who are picked on or put down by others.”
She didn’t just write these words, however. She lived them, too.
People began sharing wonderful stories about how she befriended those who were different. They told how she protected her classmates against bullies.
When she was thirteen, she traced her hands on the back of her dresser. On her picture, she wrote a message:
“These are the hands of Rachel Joy Scott and will someday touch millions of people’s hearts.”
Her dream to reach out to the world could have ended that day in the schoolyard at Columbine High School. Her family decided to make sure that didn’t happen.
Instead, her memory and her legacy are being shared through the non-profit organization called “Rachel’s Challenge.” The organization works with students and teachers at all levels. Speakers go out to schools to talk to teachers and students about how to end bullying and school violence. They encourage students to take up Rachel’s challenge. She developed This concept in an inspirational essay she wrote shortly before she passed away.
“I have this theory, that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same”
– Rachel Joy Scott
At each Rachel’s Challenge event, students and staff are encouraged to take up this challenge. They’re asked to put it into practice in their lives and their schools. Students are even encouraged to sign a pledge to give their school a fresh start. In some schools, clubs are founded based on the challenge. They’re called Friends of Rachel clubs.
People are not limited to in-person visits, however. The Rachel’s Challenge website encourages visitors to sign the pledge online.
Rachel’s challenge has seen great success. Thirty million students, educators, and parents have been reached. Through this challenging and important work, an average of 150 lives are saved every year. Rachel’s Challenge even reports at least eight school shootings have been averted.
Of all the recent innovations in Artificial Intelligence, perhaps the one thing that will finally make school shootings a thing of the past is just a little bit of simple compassion.
Rachel sure thought so.
“My codes may seem like a fantasy that can never be reached but test them for yourself, and see the kind of effect they have in the lives of people around you. You just may start a chain reaction.”