An artificial intelligence (AI) system installed in a school reportedly mistook a student’s bag of chips for a firearm and alerted police to an armed pupil on the premises.
According to NBC local affiliate WBAL-TV 11 News, Taki Allen was sitting with a group of friends outside Kenwood High School in Baltimore on Monday night when armed officers approached him.
“At first, I didn’t know where they were going until they started walking toward me with guns, talking about, ‘Get on the ground!’ and I was like, ‘What?’” Allen said to WBAL-TV.
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Allen told the Maryland outlet that police informed him an AI detection system had mistaken a bag of chips — that he scrunched up and put in his pocket after eating them — for a weapon.
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“They made me get on my knees, put my hands behind my back, and cuffed me. Then, they searched me and they figured out I had nothing,” Allen added.
“Then, they went over to where I was standing and found a bag of chips on the floor,” he continued.
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Officers then presented Allen with the image that set off the AI detector.
“I was just holding a Doritos bag — it was two hands and one finger out, and they said it looked like a gun,” Allen said.
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In a statement to the Baltimore-based outlet on Tuesday, county police said officers responded at about 7:20 p.m. on Monday to a report of a suspicious person with a weapon.
“Once on scene, the person was searched, and it was determined the subject was not in possession of any weapons,” the statement said.
High schools in Baltimore County began using an AI firearm detection system last year that employs existing security cameras to identify potential weapons, with the capacity to alert on-site safety teams and, if necessary, the police.
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“Nobody wants this to happen to their child. No one wants this to happen,” Lamont Davis, Allen’s grandfather, said following the mistakenly identified firearm.
Following the incident, the school’s principal wrote in a letter to parents, obtained by WBAL-TV 11 News: “Ensuring the safety of our students and school community is one of our highest priorities.”
“We understand how upsetting this was for the individual that was searched as well as the other students who witnessed the incident. Our counselors will provide direct support to the students who were involved in this incident and are also available to speak with any student who may need support,” the letter continued.
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