The State of Kansas intends to pay USD$5 million in grants so schools can implement surveillance cameras using artificial intelligence to help detect people carrying guns.
Announced on Monday, the governor still requires to approve the expenses, and the schools need to meet certain criteria.
ZeroEyes, a rapidly growing firm founded by military veterans after the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida is the only company that meets the requirements.
The pending legislation before Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is focusing on two issues.
The first is that after numerous high-profile shootings, school security has become a multibillion-dollar industry. The second is that some companies are successfully persuading policymakers in state capitols to write their particular corporate solutions into state law.
Laws enacted last year in Michigan and Utah, along with bills passed earlier this year in Florida and Iowa, as well as legislation proposed in Colorado, Louisiana, and Wisconsin, appear to qualify ZeroEyes as the only firm for state firearms detection programs.
On Friday, Missouri joined the ranks of states passing legislation aimed at ZeroEyes, offering USD$2.5 million in matching grants for schools to purchase firearms detection software designated as “qualified anti-terrorism technology.”
ZeroEyes employs artificial intelligence with surveillance cameras to identify visible guns, then sends that information to an operations center staffed around the clock by former law enforcement officers and military veterans. If ZeroEyes personnel verify it as a legitimate threat, they send an alert to school officials and local authorities.
While many acknowledge the effectiveness of ZeroEyes’ technology, there’s concern over legislative tactics, particularly highlighted by the stringent requirements in the Kansas bill.
Read more: Verses AI onboards chief product officer in push for AI product Genius
Read more: Google DeepMind new AI predicts structure and interactions of molecules
ZeroEyes has serious competition
ZeroEyes isn’t the only company using artificial intelligence to keep schools and other public spaces secure.
Liberty Defense Holdings Ltd. (TSXV: SCAN) (OTCQB: LDDFF) (FRANKFURT: LD2A) recently sold its Hexwave system to a major international airport in new York in support of aviation worker security screening.
In April 2023, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued an Airport Security Program National Amendment, mandating that U.S. airports adopt physical screening procedures for employees with access to secure-side areas.
HEXWAVE screens anyone walking through its portal in a fashion that doesn’t involve physical contacts. It’s capable of detecting a wide range of threats surpassing the capabilities of enhanced metal detectors on the market.
It utilizes millimetre wave, advanced 3D imaging, and AI to identify all concealed threats, including both metal and non-metal items, liquids, powders, plastic explosives, 3D-printed ghost guns, and other novel threats or prohibited items—without requiring passengers to remove common items like keys, wallets, or phones.
Xtract One Technologies (TSX: XTRA) (OTCQX: XTRAF) is another prime example of a security based company making broad use of AI technologies.
A lot like SCAN before it, Xtract One uses strategically placed gateways which scan traffic in an unobtrusive, non-invasive fashion. The company then uses AI algorithms to draw and automate insights from datasets, enabling organizations to make informed decisions swiftly and effectively. It uses text, images and audio to identify patterns, find information and generate actionable intelligence.
There is another level of development for artificial intelligence that has yet to be attained, but that a handful of dedicated companies are working hard to achieve. This level would change everything regarding the nascent artificial intelligence space.
Read more: Verses AI raises CAD$10M in private placement and leans into AI product, Genius
Read more: Verses Technologies’ COSM adds another dimension to artificial intelligence
Artificial general intelligence is the ultimate goal
Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the ultimate aim of artificial intelligence development. The idea is to create create machines capable of understanding, learning, and reasoning across diverse tasks and domains with human-like proficiency.
Most types of artificial intelligence are designed for specific tasks or narrow domains, but AGI seeks to replicate the broad cognitive abilities of the human mind.
AGI systems would possess the capacity to transfer knowledge and skills learned in one context to solve problems in entirely different scenarios, exhibiting creativity, adaptability, and common sense akin to human intelligence.
Present AI technologies, including machine learning and deep learning, are used for specialized tasks like image recognition or natural language processing. However, AGI aspires to transcend these limitations, potentially revolutionizing fields ranging from healthcare and education to scientific research and even security.
VERSES AI Inc. (CBOE: VERS) (OTCQB: VRSSF) is looking for an avenue to AGI, and it’s Genius artificial intelligence platform may be the best available option presently on the market.
Verses focuses on developing distributed intelligence, drawing inspiration from biology, with the conviction that achieving AGI necessitates a system capable of self-organization and real-time retraining, mirroring biological organisms.
Verses’ chief scientist, Karl Friston, asserts that this approach demands higher levels of autonomy and computing efficiency than the conventional large model development methodology allows.
The company created Genius using the collective insights from 30 scientific papers authored by its researchers. It’s an operating system for continually learning autonomous agents operating at the edge of connected devices. Genius has already attracted beta users like NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Volvo.
Verses AI is a sponsor of Mugglehead news coverage.
.
Follow Joseph Morton on Twitter
joseph@mugglehead.com
