Rick Smith – founder and CEO of Axon – opened his speech at the AI Week with a question:
How do we want to leave the world to our children?
A simple, yet powerful question. Because when it comes to artificial intelligence in public safety, the central point is not just what we can do, but what we must do.
Rick Smith is the entrepreneur who created the taser, a weapon designed to stop without killing. But his journey didn’t stop there. Today he leads one of the most advanced companies in the field of intelligent surveillance, technology applied to policing, and ethical AI. His goal? To build a technological ecosystem capable of increasing safety, reducing bureaucracy, and defending privacy, always with the human being at the center.
From non-lethal weapon to global technological ecosystem
It all started with an idea: to make the firearm obsolete. Thus, the taser was born. But Smith soon realized that introducing new tools in policing also entails new responsibilities. For this reason, a few years later, the second major innovation arrived: bodycams, small cameras worn by officers, useful for documenting every intervention, preventing abuse, and increasing public trust.
Today Axon is much more than this. It has created an integrated network of:
- Bodycams with advanced computational power
- Drones and anti-drone systems
- Virtual reality for training
- Platforms to share real-time video feeds with the police
- Artificial intelligence systems to streamline processes and increase operational effectiveness
The power of AI grows exponentially
During his speech, Smith showed “the most important graph of his life”: an exponential curve representing the growth of computing power. Today, a simple smart ring on a finger has more power than six Cray supercomputers from the seventies. And an Axon bodycam integrates the equivalent of 20,000 Crays, which if stacked would form a tower over 30 kilometers high.
But what impresses even more is the evolution of artificial intelligence. According to data provided by OpenAI, AI is improving 100 times a year. A dizzying pace that requires deep reflection on how to use it.
Artificial intelligence must empower the human being
For Axon, the answer is clear: AI must amplify the human being, not replace it.
To guide this approach, Smith announced the signing of the AI Pact, a public pact that gathers 15 fundamental principles for the responsible development of artificial intelligence. Among these:
- Automation of low-risk activities, such as bureaucracy
- Human control over all critical decisions
- Rigorous testing to avoid bias
- Maximum transparency in the use of technology, especially in the public sector
Writing reports with AI: less bureaucracy, more safety
A concrete example? Automatic reporting.
Axon has developed an AI capable of transcribing and structuring police reports in seconds, even from audio with strong accents or in noisy environments. In this way, officers save up to 50% of the time spent on bureaucratic activities, allowing them to focus more on patrolling and interacting with citizens.
The result is extraordinary: it’s like having 50% more operational force, without new hires or additional costs.
Intelligent surveillance yes, but with guaranteed privacy
When it comes to video surveillance with artificial intelligence, the risk is ending up in a 1984-like nightmare. But Smith proposes a concrete alternative: selective and intelligent surveillance that respects privacy.
Here’s how it works:
- Facial recognition is activated only on flagged subjects (e.g., terrorists)
- Data is analyzed “on the edge,” without centralized storage
- Cameras send alerts only in case of suspicious events (falls, accidents, stolen cars)
- Every human access to data is tracked to ensure maximum transparency
This approach allows leveraging the potential of AI without turning cities into total surveillance fields.
Robots and drones: the future of policing is under human control
The next frontier? Intelligent robots and drones, but always under human control.
Axon envisions a future where:
- Robots do not make autonomous decisions
- Critical interventions are approved in real-time by human operators or civil rights experts
- Robots never use lethal force
- Monitoring occurs live, with the possibility to stop or redirect the action
This model allows for safer, less violent, and more controllable interventions compared to traditional armed policing.
A future built with ethics, not just technology
Technology evolves. But principles remain. Rick Smith has no doubts: the real challenge is not innovation, but responsibility. Because an algorithm can write a report or recognize a face, but only a human being can decide what is right to do.
With its human-centric and transparent approach, Axon positions itself as a global model for the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence in public safety.
And the question with which it all began remains the compass:
“What kind of world do we want to leave to our children?”
To delve deeper into the technological context and innovations in the field of AI, you can also consult news and analysis on cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and decentralized finance – Cryptonomist and articles like From learning to science: the frontiers of AI between NotebookLM, AlphaFold, and fire detection.
To better understand the regulatory and political implications, it is useful to read Stablecoin: the US Senate towards a new law amid political tensions and big tech.
Finally, for an example of how artificial intelligence is entering other sectors, you can consult the article on Artificial intelligence enters cinema: Wizard of Oz and the magic of AI restoration.