Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers defended Baltimore County’s AI detection system after it misidentified a bag of chips for a gun, resulting in a 16-year-old being ordered to the ground at gunpoint.
WMAR reported 16-year-old Taki Allen was waiting outside his school after football practice. While waiting, he ate a bag of Doritos then stuffed the empty bag into his pocket.
In about 20 minutes police arrived on scene in response to a warning sent by the school’s AI detection system.
Allen said, “Police showed up, like eight cop cars, and then they all came out with guns pointed at me talking about getting on the ground. I was putting my hands up like, ‘what’s going on?’ He told me to get on my knees and arrested me and put me in cuffs.”
The detection system misidentified the empty bag, labeling it a gun instead.
Superintendent Rogers defended the system: “The program is based on human verification and in this case the program did what it was supposed to do which was to signal an alert and for humans to take a look to find out if there was cause for concern in that moment.”
Tech Crunch noted the system alert had actually been canceled upon review, but the principal reported the alert to the school resource officer because she had not learned of the cancellation. The resource officer subsequently called local police.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of the NRA and Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
