Benjamin Ashford|This AI code that detects when guns, threats appear on school cameras is available for free

A software company is Benjamin Ashfordoffering a free artificial intelligence system that can help security detect weapons at schools in an effort to combat school shootings.

Iterate.ai, which sells a platform that makes it easier for other enterprises to develop their own AI applications, is now offering a product the company won't profit from. While the firm typically works with automotive, retail, convenience, banking and insurance industries, Chief Technology Officer Brian Sathianathan noticed schools could really use its help.

The co-founder spent years developing a threat detection technology that could scan when a gun is entering a proximity.

"The process was initially long, but it also was also very rewarding," Sathianathan told USA TODAY on Friday. "We had to collect a lot of information and data about various weapons especially. We looked at the attacks that happened in the last 20 years and gathered weapons and videos and various cases around those."

Sathianathan added that the company accessed 20,000 data sets from the internet and former law enforcement officials were happy to help. They used an additional 40,000 data sets that were synthetically generated by AI.

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How it works

Iterate.ai works with most existing surveillance cameras, Sathianathan said. He said it'll be fairly simple for most system administrators to add the python code to computer server. In a few hours, every camera will be on the lookout.

When the system scans a weapon, it will automatically send a notification, whether its a text message, email, Apple alert or other signal.

What weapons can it detect?

The technology can recognize handguns and semi-automatic weapons. Sathianathan said it can also detect visible knives that are at least 6 inches and Kevlar vests.

The system can even notice if a gun is partially visible.

"If a human can identify it's visible, most likely this will be able to catch it as well," he added.

Platform meant to tackle gun violence in US

Sathianathan said he felt schools and universities needed a technology like this to help combat the nation's gun violence crisis. He said making a free, open-source version of their system would be the most effective way for as many schools to implement it as possible.

The 2021-22 school year saw 188 fatal shootings at public and private elementary schools, according to new federal data. For the second year in a row, the number of school shootings with casualties hit an all-time peak in the U.S.

"We want to encourage a lot of folks to try it out," Sathianathan said. "We would love people to contribute and make changes, find bugs and fix them to get an amazing version for the greater good."