Ring's CEO told staff the feature is “first for finding dogs,” indicating a plan to expand.

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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  • fubarx@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    4 hours ago

    Anyone remember “Police Blotter” reports in local papers? Some were funny.

    Someone called in with concerns about a neighborhood cat that is “continuously at large.”

    But they mostly gave people a very dark view of the world outside. This led to metal bars on doors and windows, sale of pricey security systems, and folks walking around scared of their shadow. That all moved over to apps like NextDoor, Citizen, and Ring’s Neighbors.

    Fear is a primal driver. People on those apps are constantly reporting “odd looking people” in their neighborhood. Not surprisingly, the pet “Search Party” feature goes through Neighbors. Those same users are primed to see bad people everywhere. They will happily accept any feature that promises “zero crime neighborhoods.”

    ANY feature.