Axon is hitting pause on its plan to use taser-equipped drones to stop school shootings after a majority of its AI ethics board resigned in protest.
On Monday, nine of the 14 members resigned, claiming the company ignored consulting Axon’s AI ethics board about the taser-equipped drones.
“The Taser-equipped drone also has no realistic chance of solving the mass shooting problem Axon now is prescribing it for, only distracting society from real solutions to a tragic problem,” the resigning board members wrote in a public resignation letter.
The resignations arrive days after Axon, a provider of body cameras and tasers, introduced the drone as a potential solution to America’s mass shooting problem. The air-based bot is armed with a taser, which can be remotely firmed to incapacitate a live shooter. Although the project is meant to be a concept, the company originally planned on launching a “full solution” by 2024.
However, the proposal immediately faced pushback from critics, including privacy groups, over fears the drones would result in a dystopian robot police force capable of surveilling society. Others were concerned the company is exploiting the mass shooting problem to sell hardware.
Axon’s own AI ethics board also voted against the company’s original proposal for the taser-equipped drones only a few weeks ago. However, board members were blindsided when the company still went ahead and announced the drone to the public last week in the wake of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which took the lives of 19 students and two teachers.
“Before Axon’s announcement, we pleaded with the company to pull back. But the company charged ahead in a way that struck many of us as trading on the tragedy of the Uvalde and Buffalo shootings. Significantly for us, it bypassed Axon’s commitment to consult with the company’s own AI Ethics Board,” the resigning board members wrote.
In response, Axon is halting work on the drone. On Sunday, the company’s CEO Rick Smith published a blog post that said: “In light of feedback, we are pausing work on this project and refocusing to further engage with key constituencies to fully explore the best path forward.”
“Our announcement was intended to initiate a conversation on this as a potential solution, and it did lead to considerable public discussion that has provided us with a deeper appreciation of the complex and important considerations relating to this matter,” he added. “I acknowledge that our passion for finding new solutions to stop mass shootings led us to move quickly to share our ideas.”
Although nine members of the AI ethics board have resigned, Smith said his company “will continue to seek diverse perspectives” to challenge the company’s thinking and help guide its research efforts.
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