Comment on Schools turn to artificial intelligence to spot guns as companies press lawmakers for state funds

By DAVID A. LIEB and JOHN HANNA (Associated Press) TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas could soon offer up to $5 million in grants for schools to outfit surveillance cameras with artificial intelligence systems that can spot people carrying guns. But the governor needs to approve the expenditures and the schools must meet some very specific criteria. The AI software must be patented, “designated as qualified anti-terrorism technology,” in compliance with certain security industry standards, already in use in at least 30 states and capable of detecting “three broad firearm classifications with a minimum of 300 subclassifications” and “at least 2,000 permutations,” among other things. Only one company currently meets all those criteria: the same organization that touted them to Kansas lawmakers crafting the state budget.