Kansas considers AI to prevent school shootings

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Kansas lawmakers have passed a bill that hopes to use technology to address concerns about school safety. It would give schools money to implement technology to prevent school shootings.

Governor Laura Kelly has not yet signed off on the bill, but if she does, it would dole out $5 million in school safety grants for Kansas schools. Those safety grants can be used for several safety purposes, including getting firearm detection software.

This technology uses AI software to detect firearms that show up on security cameras. If the system finds a firearm, it alerts an operations center where analysts take a look at the threat and decide if it’s legitimate.

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One concern some have with the legislation is it has tight parameters on what kind of tech schools can buy using the funds.

“One of the pros is that they are fairly specific about what the software can and can’t do, and so they want to hold people accountable,” said Wichita Public Schools Safety and Environmental Services Director Terri Moses. “One of the cons to that is you limit the number of vendors that are available, and so with pricing, there’s no competition.”

According to Moses, the tight parameters of firearm detection software make it harder for schools to locate an affordable option.

She said Wichita Public Schools is asking for around $1 million of the $5 million in grant funding. They could use some of that cash to pay for AI firearm detection but would consider other options.

Some legislators have concerns about the bill. They say it places too tight of parameters on what kind of AI software schools can use. They said that essentially narrows it down so schools can only choose to purchase the tech from one vendor, ZeroEyes.

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