A smart speaker saved a mother, daughter from domestic abuse

folarin okunola

July 12, 2017 9:49 AM

A smart speaker called the police during a fight between the woman and her boyfriend.

The Google Home smart speaker

I know we have not gotten round to artificial intelligence in Nigeria but it is fast becoming a thing in other parts of the world, and with that, some pretty cool stuff.

In Tijeras, New Mexico, USA, a woman and her daughter were saved from being fatally shot when a smart speaker called the police during a fight between the woman and her boyfriend.

The device, a smart speaker that uses artificial intelligence to function as a sort-of-omnipresent voice assistant, made the call at one point during the altercation when the attacker, Eduardo Barros, asked “did you call the sheriffs,” which the unidentified device, connected to the home stereo, understood as a prompt to call the police.

According to the Sheriff’s department, officers took the call seriously, arriving on the scene with a SWAT team and a crisis negotiator to save the woman and her daughter who was also present.

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According to a Mashable report, Barros was reportedly armed with a gun, physically attacked the woman and threatened to kill her.

“The unexpected use of this new technology to contact emergency services has possibly helped save a life,” said Manuel Gonzales III, a Bernalilo County Sheriff, in a statement to ABC News.

The device remains unidentified at the time of writing the story but regardless, the turn of events is a testament to the power of technology. Who knows what could have happened if the smart speaker hadn’t dialed 911?

We at Pulse Tech are all for the adoption of artificial intelligence for more use cases in the Nigerian ecosystem and this incidence is one reason why that isn’t such a bad idea. What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below!

folarin okunola