Liz Hamlen The CEO of Amazon’s Ring camera business often wonders if her husband remembers to pick up the packages of frozen products delivered to his home on a regular basis. She could nag him and check out the footage from the ring.
Traditionally, the latter option required tedious swiping through a video timeline in Ring’s app to determine when a box was received and by whom. But in recent weeks, Hamlen has been able to get AI to do the searching for him. She types “today’s package” into the app and can instantly watch the clip, assuming her husband is on duty.
The company announced today that Ring’s new smart video search feature will roll out to all Home Pro subscribers who pay $20 per month or $200 per year by November 5th. WIRED tested the feature over the past few days. It didn’t answer the recurring question in our house: “Did you forget to lock the door?” But searches for things like “dog poop,” “gardener,” and “rollerblading” yielded mostly accurate results.
Hamlen, who also oversees three other Amazon home technology divisions, said Ring blocks searches for content it deems “offensive, inappropriate, or harmful.” She declined to elaborate beyond saying that the names of weapons and “qualitative terms relating to people or situations” are among the prohibited items.
Searches for terms that some people might consider sensitive, such as “black people,” “turban,” and “gun,” yielded no results, even though there were videos matching those descriptions. I didn’t. “Disabled” returnees were running around in wheelchairs, and their mothers were pushing strollers. Ring says it will now block “disabled” searches due to the risk of abuse.
Still, the search feature represents a major upgrade for Ring, which has popularized home surveillance over the past decade through the growth of video doorbells and other security gadgets. The problem is that the millions of Ring users have vast libraries of footage that can be up to six months old, with minimal functionality to easily mine the information within. That’s it. Hamren, a former Microsoft and Meta Hardware executive who joined the company in March 2023, wanted to help users gain insights without much tinkering. AI made it possible.
Mr. Hamlen’s reign at Ring also brought about major changes in how the company marketed itself to potential customers. A “crime prevention” ad showing a suspicious person has disappeared. She withdrew a partnership with law enforcement, where Ring had developed tools that made it easy for users to share videos with law enforcement without obtaining a warrant.
Ring’s marketing today features adorable footage involving pets and children, and users are encouraged to share serious as well as quirky videos to their online community. The focus is no longer on curbing crime, but on reducing anxiety by giving customers detailed insight into what is happening in front of the camera.
Searching is just the beginning. Hamren said the new AI models that power search will eventually allow Ring to notify users of certain situations, such as a bear wandering through the backyard or an unusual puddle on the patio. You will also receive a summary of recent events. “Providing intelligence and context about what’s going on is ultimately what we’re all about,” she says.
