Reports of the Axon Ai Ethics Board

The AI and Policing Technology Ethics Board is an independent review board created by Axon for the purpose of guiding and advising the company around ethical issues relating to the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered policing technologies. Policing Project Founder and Faculty Director Barry Friedman is an original member of the Ethics Board. Further, the Policing Project provides staff support to the Board by facilitating its meetings, conducting research, and drafting reports of the Board’s conclusions and recommendations.

To date, the Ethics Board has released two reports, concerning the following technologies:

First Report: Face Recognition

The Board’s first report provides background on how the Board operates, as well as a general evaluative Framework the Board has adopted for considering Axon’s development of new AI-based products and technologies. Finally, this report provides the Board’s initial thinking on the use of face recognition technologies. Noting the inaccuracy and potential for racially disparate impacts, the Board called on Axon to commit to not proceed with the development of face matching products, including adding these capabilities to body-worn cameras. Axon agreed to this and other recommendations of the Board. (This report is also available in German.)

Second Report: Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)

The Board produced its second report in response to Axon’s announcement of its intention to begin producing automated license plate readers (ALPRs), computer-controlled camera systems that read and record license plates. As the Board’s report explains, ALPRs are already one of the most widely used surveillance systems in existence, but are woefully under-regulated and raise a host of transparency, privacy, and civil liberties concerns. The Board’s report lays out 15 recommendations aimed at achieving the benefits of ALPRs while minimizing their social costs.