We have great news for paranoid parents, authoritarian administrators, and other people who like to remotely spy on kids as they walk around a hallway!
Earlier this week, both News 9 and Channel 25 reported that the Putnam City Public Schools is partnering with an AI software company to use existing school surveillance cameras to instantly detect when a gun is brandished on campus.
Yep, that’s right. If the frantic screams, gunshots, and 911 calls don’t let the cops know there’s a student walking around campus with a gun, guess what – this software will!
Here’s a report News 9 put together about the software.
Wow. That’s some impressive technology!
Outside of hiding or concealing the weapon from cameras – both before and after they get through their school security checkpoint – how will today's demented teens figure out how to get by this?! School is finally safe again!
Obviously, if you can’t tell, there's a bit of cynicism in my thoughts on this.
I’m not doing this to downplay the threat and significance of school shootings – we all know how real and terrifying they can be! – but it just feels a bit dystopian and over the top.
If you ask me, it does a better job advancing the surveillance state, eroding student privacy, and improving the finances of an AI software company than it does making our schools safer.
First of all, the main claim of the software is that it can identify a gun quickly and alert authorities, but if the students know about this, won’t they just find a new target, or simply conceal the weapon and act quickly and – as opposed to the kid in the training video – not roam around school hallways in a trench coat brandishing a weapon?
Imagine being a young actor, and your first big role is playing a school shooter in a Minority Report software promo video. That can’t be good for your confidence!
Another issue I have with the software is that it seems to ignore bigger risks.
We all know school shootings dominate headlines for obvious reasons, but they’re actually quite rare. Students are way, way, way more likely to be harmed, hurt, or victimized by a perverted teacher, principal, or football coach than another student with a gun.
It makes you wonder – where’s the AI software that will alert authorities whenever a music teacher is about to touch a student’s thigh, or a coach is about to demand players do naked jumpin’ jacks? That surveillance state software would be way more practical and useful!
But then again, what do I know?
Say what you want about security theatre and the totalitarian video surveillance state we’re inching ever closer and closer to – it may not change the outcome, but it does make people feel safer. And as every election reminds us, feelings do matter way more than reality.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
