Ring’s controversial, AI-powered “Search Party” feature isn’t intended to always be limited only to dogs, the company’s founder, Jamie Siminoff, told Ring employees in an internal email obtained by 404 Media.
In October, Ring launched Search Party, an on-by-default feature that links together Ring cameras in a neighborhood and uses AI to search for specific lost dogs, essentially creating a networked, automated surveillance system. The feature got some attention at the time, but faced extreme backlash after Ring and Siminoff promoted Search Party during a Super Bowl ad. 404 Media obtained an email that Siminoff sent to all Ring employees in early October, soon after the feature’s launch, which said the feature was introduced “first for finding dogs,” but that it or features like it would be expanded to “zero out crime in neighborhoods.”
“This is by far the most innovation that we have launched in the history of Ring. And it is not only the quantity, but quality,” Siminoff wrote. “I believe that the foundation we created with Search Party, first for finding dogs, will end up becoming one of the most important pieces of tech and innovation to truly unlock the impact of our mission. You can now see a future where we are able to zero out crime in neighborhoods. So many things to do to get there but for the first time ever we have the chance to fully complete what we started.”
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It shows you how insular these people must be. That ad was the result of meeting after meeting, plan after plan. They had convinced themselves that the public would eat it up. We would be like “Holy shit that’s amazing, let’s give you ALL our data and video and privacy!”. They actually thought we would go for it. lol.
They are megalomaniacs, the owners and ceo’s that were chosen by those owners’ and their board members. They surround themselves with yes men, anyone telling them they are wrong will be removed from their lives, as they fashion themselves after the president and other leaders above them that do the same.
To be fair, I’m actually pleasantly surprised that people didn’t go for it.
It’s not like majority of people seemed to give a shit about privacy not too long ago…
Same.
I was sure the emotional manipulation tactic would be extremely effective. Guess it was a little too blatant, even for the general public.
My 12 year old was sold on the idea. But she’s 12 and may love dogs more than people.
I’m in my 30s and I like most dogs more than most people.
Yep, 99% of dogs beat 99.99999% of people. And 99% of cats do the same.