Florida school locked down after AI weapon detector mistakes clarinet for gun

An "automated weapons detection system" sent a Florida middle school into lockdown Tuesday after misidentifying a clarinet as a gun. Lawton Chiles Middle School in Oviedo initiated "code red," reports WKMG TV, and the principal blamed the student for "holding a musical instrument as if it were a weapon."

Here's Dr. Melissa Laudani in her message to parents: "While there was no threat to campus, I'd like to ask you to speak with your student about the dangers of pretending to have a weapon on a school campus."

Every kid now knows you can get time off school by holding anything long and thin that looks a bit like a gun, because the gullible twerps of Seminole County's school system bought some AI snake oil. The news stories don't identify the system, but there's reportage of the spread of such systems Florida and one story identifies the provider in Seminole County as Zeroeyes. They pay $250,000 for a "cloud subscription".

ZeroEyes is used in 43 states, including dozens of school districts across Florida, and can detect more than 100 different firearms. According to the company, "they use existing video cameras, coupled with artificial intelligence gun detection, to prevent threats rather than react to them."

Seminole County's school board would not disclose to Spectrum News 13 whether Zeroeyes' system had stopped any actual threats and described it as a 'deterrent.'

While none have agreed to an interview, the district's safety and security division responded to email about a question on ZeroEyes: "How many potential threats have been stopped because of ZeroEyes software?" The district replied in an email stating: "This school safety technology has played a role in helping us keep our schools safe. As a deterrent, we are unable to completely qualify how many potential threats have been stopped." ZeroEyes would not provide that information either, which means there could be more cases that parents, students and the community are unaware of. …

"I would like to see some statistical data that proves that it (ZeroEyes) does work, and it works," Krieger said. "In the time and years Seminole County has had it, has it worked? How many people have they stopped? And as parents, we should know these things. If they are happening, why are they not being reported?"

There's very little coverage of it, but it doesn't seem very impressive: "Some experts say it's a mistake."

In several states where ZeroEyes has lobbyists registered, lawmakers have funded school safety purchases, sometimes issuing requirements so specific that ZeroEyes is the only legal competitor, despite there being other similar products on the market. …

"It's not just the fact that their product does nothing to advance kids' safety, but it actually hurts kids," said Marlow, who also sits on a DHS school safety advisory board. "Surveillance hurts kids, false senses of security hurts kids. False alarms, false positives for weapons and bombs hurts kids."

Unreliable and unaccountable surveillance security systems are nothing new, but the "AI" boom has radically increased the hype and the pressure to buy. Police are addicted to systems such as Shotspotter, also found to be of limited use despite the high costs.

Here's Laudani's full message:

Dear Chiles Middle School Families, Students, and Staff,

I wanted to send a follow-up and share with you what prompted the brief Code Red on our campus. As you know, we have multiple layers of school safety, including an automated system that detects potential threats. A student was walking in the hallway, holding a musical instrument as if it were a weapon, which triggered the Code Red to activate. While there was no threat to campus, I'd like to ask you to speak with your student about the dangers of pretending to have a weapon on a school campus.

We are thankful for the quick response by our law enforcement partners, and our students and staff following our safety protocols.

As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Dr. Laudani