Scottsdale June 5 (BUS): Development company Taser Axon said this week that it is working to build drones armed with electro-shock weapons that can fly in schools and “help prevent the next Uvalde, Sandy Hook or Columbine.” But her technical advisors quickly criticized the idea as a dangerous fantasy.
The publicly traded company, which sells stun guns and police cameras, pitched a new product idea for police drones last year to the Artificial Intelligence Ethics Council, a group of renowned experts on technology, policing and privacy, the AP reports.
Some of them have expressed reservations about arming drones in over-secure communities of color. But they weren’t expecting Axon’s announcement Thursday that it would like to send those drones armed with Taser missiles into classrooms to prevent mass shootings by immobilizing an intruder gunman.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Rick Smith, founder and CEO of Axon, said he felt compelled to popularize the idea after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Ovaldi, Texas, saying he was “disastrously disappointed” in the police response that didn’t – Move to kill the suspect for more than an hour.
But he stressed on Friday that no product had been launched and that any potential launch would be on the way. He felt the idea should be shared now because of the public conversation about effective ways for police to safely confront attackers and how schools can increase safety.
“This is an idea that has to come into the consciousness of the public while our minds are open to it and I felt that if I waited another six months, the world would change and people would forget that pain and we would see a shift in emotions where people would focus more on what could happen, rather than the pain of this problem that we need to solve it.”
Axon’s stock price soared with the news. But the announcement angered members of the ethics board, and some of them are now likely to resign in protest.
“This very idea is a hoax,” said Barry Friedman, a New York University law professor and member of the Axon Artificial Intelligence Ethics Council. “Drones cannot fly through closed doors. The physical properties of the universe still exist. So unless you have a drone in every classroom in America, which sounds crazy, the idea is not going to work.”
Friedman said it was a “dangerous and fanciful idea” that went far beyond the proposal for a police drone with an electric taser that board members — some of them former or current police officials — have been discussing in recent months.
“We begged the company not to,” Friedman said of the company’s announcement. “It was unnecessary and shameful.”
The product idea has been around at Axon since at least 2019, and the company has been working on trying to figure out if a Taser-equipped drone is a feasible idea. Smith said that over the past year, the company has created computer-generated technical displays to simulate a product design and conducted in-house testing to see if Taser darts — which deliver a malfunctioning electric shock — can be fired from a drone. He added that he had discussed the possibility of developing such a product with the Ethics Board.
Board members who spoke with the Associated Press said they were surprised by the school’s drone proposal — which they were only notified of earlier this week — and compiled a unanimous statement of concern that called Axon’s decision “extremely unfortunate.” The company tweeted the board’s opposition shortly after announcing its statement on Thursday.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there were resignations,” said another member of the ethics board, University of Washington professor of law Ryan Calo. “I think everyone on the board has to make a decision on whether they want to continue participating.”
Both Friedman and Calo described this week’s operation as a sharp departure from the respectful relationship that Axon executives have forged with the board in recent years on controversial topics such as facial recognition — which Axon decided not to use in body cameras — and automatic license plate readers. .
“Sometimes the company takes our advice and sometimes it doesn’t,” Friedman said. “The important thing is that it happens after deep discussion and coordination. That was thrown out the window here.”
Smith said the company is still in the very early stages of product development and will continue to consult the Ethics Board, along with law enforcement, community leaders and school officials. He admitted that the company might later decide the idea was futile and abandon it.
But he contested the idea that he ignored concerns from the Ethics Council, which aims to provide guidance and share feedback. Ultimately, the decision still rests with Smith as the company’s CEO.
I didn’t ignore what they said. “People can argue and disagree,” Smith said. “I think there’s only one thing the world can see: our council is not an acquittal.”
“I hope they will not resign,” he added. “I hope they’re somewhat proud maybe after this that we’re having this public debate.”
On Friday in an “Ask Me Anything” chat on the online forum Reddit. Smith admitted that “drones in schools can seem crazy” but went on to answer detailed questions about them. He said they could travel through the school’s vents and sit on doors and walls near ceilings. It would be a “good thing” if a gunman tried to bring someone down because it would distract him from trying to kill people.
“We do this because we care,” Smith said. “We are a business, so eventually we have to find a financial model that works, but in the end we have been successful because our mission is to drive our business and solve the problems we care about,” he added.
Smith told a Reddit user that Axon has “never been” trying to capitalize on recent tragedies to lure investors. He noted the advisory board’s disagreements but said the mass shootings in Ovaldi, Texas – and what he described as misleading proposals to arm teachers with guns – forced him to publicize the idea of drones to provide a “wide range of voices”.