Amazon’s Ring Introduces AI-Powered Security Alerts

According to a statement released by the company on Wednesday, Amazon’s Ring video doorbell division is introducing AI-generated alerts that notify consumers of odd or suspicious activities occurring in their home.

The application creates written summaries of motion activity recorded by Ring cameras and doorbells using artificial intelligence, which are subsequently shown as phone notifications. According to Ring, the descriptions are “intentionally concise” and solely cover the main subject that prompted the alert, allowing consumers to quickly determine whether it is important.

Starting on Wednesday, Ring premium customers in the US and Canada will be able to access the features in beta.

The Amazon division is introducing the tool as part of a larger initiative by the doorbell manufacturer into AI, according to Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff in a statement.

“We are just starting to scratch the surface of AI,” said Siminoff, who founded Ring in 2011.

Siminoff returned to lead Ring in April after stepping away in 2023. Amazon purchased Ring in 2018 for an estimated $1 billion, enhancing its presence in the smart home and home security markets.

Ring is best recognized for its smart doorbell devices, which enable users to capture activity outside their homes, although it has broadened its offerings to include a range of products from camera-equipped floodlights and alarm systems to aerial security camera drones.

“I see unlimited potential for new experiences we can invent for our neighbors,” Siminoff said.

The company has faced ongoing scrutiny regarding privacy due to its contentious collaborations with numerous police departments across the U.S. Privacy advocates have raised alarms that the program, along with Ring’s Neighbors app, may increase the risk of racial profiling and transform residents into informants, with minimal safeguards on how law enforcement can utilize the data.

In 2024, Ring eliminated a feature that permitted police to directly request footage from users.

Other technology firms have integrated generative AI features into their products, only to face challenges with the technology. In January, Apple disabled a feature that employed AI to compile and summarize news notifications after it mistakenly misrepresented some outlets’ headlines. Last year, Google halted the deployment of its Gemini AI image generator after it generated “inaccuracies” in historical images.