A company claims its AI has prevented 16 school shootings

On Feb. 14, 2018, a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The incident was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history, and in the year since, various tech companies across the nation have ramped up efforts to use artificial intelligence to prevent similar tragedies -- and they claim the systems are flagging many violent incidents before they happen. A new story by USA Today details several of the companies offering services that use AI to prevent school shootings. Bark's AI monitors students' text messages, emails, and social media accounts for signs of cyberbullying, drug use, depression, and other possible safety concerns, sending automatic alerts to officials in more than 1,100 school districts when it notes something suspicious.