Three-quarters of the ethics board of the nation's leading stun gun maker resigned in protest over the company's handling of the roll out of its drones.
In a statement published by the NYU School of Law's Policing Project, nine out of 12 members of the ethics board resigned. After the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas at the end of May, the flap exploded into public view.
According to Rick Smith, the Uvalde shooting led him to announce that the company was exploring a stun gun pilot program for schools against the wishes of the ethics board, which had already warned him not to go public with the plan.
Smith wrote in his initial statement that now is the time to make this technology a reality and to begin a public discussion about how to ethically introduce non-lethal drones into schools.
Danielle Citron, a University of Virginia law professor, was one of many board members who disagreed with her and resigned.
In its most recent statement, the ethics board suggested that in Smith's characterization of the disagreement between board and company, the CEO neglected to mention that the company's initial stun gun plan would only have been provided to law enforcement.
The board didn't expect the announcement from the company. After several years of work, the company has fundamentally failed, because of the announcement that the company's goal is to equip countless pre-positioned drones in a variety of schools and public places.
The resigning board members said that the use of artificial intelligence will harm communities of color and others who are over policed.
The statement said that the drones have no realistic chance of solving the mass shooting problem.
In his rebuttal, Smith said that he was disappointed in the board's resignation and that the company was going to focus on this project and engage with key stakeholders to explore the best path forward.
He didn't address the change in scope of the proposed project, nor the board's concerns about this type of weaponry and the use of artificial intelligence in police work.
If the world's largest stun gun company is willing to overstep its self-imposed watchdog when the CEO gets emotional, that doesn't bode well for its future.
The New York University Law School's Policing Project received a statement of resignation from members of the Allen Artificial Intelligence Ethics Board.
Artificial intelligence can put a guy in jail for a year with little evidence.
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