A Good Guy With AI

The number of mass shootings in the United States so far has been greater than the number of days this year. This issue has incited awareness of gun control laws as well as mental health awareness within individuals. Nonetheless, no amount of prevention or control can completely eliminate access to firearms and the issues at hand. But what if we could stop the shooting before the gun is even fired?

A startup in Austin, Texas called Athena Security aims to be proactive and stem the issue before it escalates. Chris Ciabarra, CTO and co-founder of Athena Security said that their software, “…detects weapons when they go off. So if someone pulls out a weapon we can call the police before the actual gun goes off”.

The company uploads thousands of images of weapons and how they look like when being held by an individual and teach the computer to look for such situations. Another benefit of the software is that it can be applied to already existing surveillance systems which allow for an upgrade without a complete reinstallation of new technology. The Austin based company already has 50 global clients and is receiving traction from law enforcement agencies who have implemented the software in active shooter training.

AI is the future of technology and has many positive aspects that could potentially outweigh the negatives that could come with it. Through its diverse implementations across various types of tech, AI could soon be a commonplace facet of our lives that can help us in ways that seemed abstract in the past. SOAL is knee-deep in the AI field, providing various types of AI resources to companies around the world.

Written By:

Azaan Moledina