Liz Hamren, the CEO of Amazon's Ring camera company often wonders if her husband remembered to grab the package of frozen food that is regularly delivered to their home. She could nag him, or she could watch the footage of their Ring.
Historically, the latter option required her to laboriously swipe through a video timeline in the Ring app to determine if and when the box was picked up and by whom. But in recent weeks, Hamren has been able to let AI do the searching. She types “package today” into the app and immediately sees the video of her husband fulfilling his duty, assuming he did.
Ring's new Smart Video Search capability, which the company announced today, will roll out on November 5 to all its Home Pro subscribers, who pay $20 per month or $200 per year. WIRED has been testing the feature in recent days. I couldn't help but answer the recurring question in our home: “Did you remember to lock the door?” But searches for “dog poop,” “gardeners,” and “roller skating” usually yielded accurate results.
Hamren, who also oversees three other Amazon home technology units, said Ring blocks searches for content it considers “offensive, inappropriate or harmful.” She declined to further explain that names of weapons and “qualitative terms about people or situations” are among the bans.
Our searches for terms that some may consider sensitive, including “black,” “turban” and “gun,” returned no results, despite there being images that matched these descriptions. 'Disabled' people pushing past in wheelchairs – and mothers pushing strollers. Ring notes that it will now block searches for “disabled” due to the risk of misuse.
Still, the search feature marks a major upgrade for Ring, which has popularized home surveillance over the past decade through its video doorbells and a growing number of other security gadgets. The problem was that millions of Ring users were stuck with a massive library of footage – potentially up to six months' worth – with minimal features to easily mine the information within. Hamren, a former Microsoft and Meta hardware manager who joined in March 2023, wanted to give users insights without having to fiddle with them too much. AI has made that possible.
Hamren's reign at Ring has also led to a significant shift in the company's pitch to potential customers. 'Tough-on-crime' ads with suspicious characters disappeared. She withdrew from working with police, leaving Ring to develop tools that allowed users to easily share videos with law enforcement without having to obtain a warrant.
Ring's marketing these days features cute images of pets and children, and users are encouraged to share funny videos with their online communities, not just the serious ones. The focus is no longer on reducing crime, but rather on reducing fear by giving customers detailed insight into what is happening in front of the camera.
