TOLLESON, AZ — Nowadays, cameras can be located everywhere on school grounds.
In an effort to keep students safe, schools are doing what they can, and the Tolleson Union High School District superintendent says he wants to use artificial intelligence to better protect their children.
When there’s a sudden rush of students during passing periods, it’s difficult to keep track of everything on a high school campus and Superintendent Jeremy Calles understands that.
“We can’t be everywhere. We want our students to be as safe as possible. So, why not leverage the best technology that’s out there today to be able to help ensure that,” he said.
Calles said they want to find an AI program to put in their current cameras, which were updated in recent years and can support artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
They’re looking into three different companies, trying to learn as much as they can to figure out what exactly they want it to do.
In research, with Calles’ background in information technology, the goal of AI in the cameras can help detect issues before they happen or right as they’re happening and alert staff.
“We’ve been reactive with the cameras. We don’t want to be reactive. We want to be proactive,” Calles said. “If we can possibly stop a fight before it ever occurs and those students never have to be suspended, that will be our long-term goal to improve the instructional environment for them.”
He says AI can detect quickly, looking at crowd patterns and movements.
“Crowd patterns can tell us when a fight is about to occur or a fight is occurring,” he said.
Calles said AI can help track campus perimeters and let staff know if anything out of the ordinary happens. It can also help figure out if there is drug use on campus as well as detect weapons if a camera sees it.
The technology would also adapt and understand school schedules. So, for instance, when students are passing through periods for several minutes, traffic is usually flowing. If students start to gather, AI can alert staff that something may be happening. If it’s lunchtime, the technology would know that it’s lunchtime and students would be congregating.
There could be times when AI is a bit sensitive and alert to non-issues, Calles said.
“Like for instance, if a student goes to hug another student, that, to the AI might appear that’s some contact that may need attention. But we’re going to have human eyes reviewing what the AI is learning,” he added.
Security personnel will still be monitoring cameras, which will help make the final decisions on any issues that arise.
Calles says student’s faces will not be archived or stored anywhere. It won’t be tied to any student’s IDs either.
The goal of AI is to pick up any characteristics and help security and staff narrow searches if they’re looking for anything.
“Sometimes, you just know you want to find somebody in a red shirt. You want to be able to prompt it and say, find me everybody that’s in a red shirt. Instantly, you can see videos of everybody on the campus that’s wearing a red shirt,” he said, giving an example.
Calles said they’ll soon choose a company for the AI program. The school board will have to also approve it. If all goes well, Calles said he wants to implement it starting next school year.
Security is also not the only place they want to utilize AI. He said they want to use it for personalized scheduling for students and also personalized tutoring.
As for bad uses of AI, such as cheating, Calles said they’re trying to work through that as well.
“When you think about AI, it’s the new technology. It’s no different than when calculators are introduced or computers or cell phones,” he continued. “Our technology is evolving and it’s not going to disappear. we need to go ahead an embrace it.”
