A software company is offering schools in the US its newest gun-detection AI in an effort to bring down the number of school shootings in the country.
Iterate.ai announced that it will provide a free, open-source version of the threat detection systems for schools to combat the increasing gun-related violence in academic grounds, USA Today reported.
How Does the Gun-Detecting AI Work
The AI was trained from 20,000 data sets from the past 20 years with the addition of another 40,000 samples generated by AI, according to CTO Brian Sathianathan.
Iterate's AI model is made to be compatible with most surveillance systems used in schools.
It is able to recognize handguns to semi-automatic rifles, as well as identify knives and Kevlar vests.
Even partially visible guns, as long as "a human can identify it's visible," can be detected by the AI too. Concealable handguns have been the most common weapon used in school and mass shootings.
The system will automatically alert students and authorities via text message, email, Apple alert, and other notification channels once it detects a gun within the school premises.
The whole system installation itself will only take a few hours as the phyton code is added to the system administrator.
Sathianathan said all efforts to protect the children from danger have been "very rewarding" despite the long process to achieve it.
Gun Violence, School Shootings Ramp Up in the US
There have been at least 80 reported school shootings in the US for this year alone as of Dec. 6, according to CNN. Reports indicate that 37 people were killed and 88 more were injured.
Many of the attacks occurred in K-12 schools, of which most were committed by a student of the school.
School shootings and gun violence escalated back more than its past records pre-pandemic. Just last year, 79 shooting attacks occurred within school grounds.
Calls for a gun ban continue to ring all across the country.
