Ring's new AI feature summarizes security camera footage for you — those alerts just got less annoying

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Video Descriptions use AI to provide you with better alerts

Phone showing Ring Video Descriptions AI feature.
(Image credit: Amazon)

Owners of Ring cameras and doorbells just got access to a new AI-powered feature called Video Descriptions. Intended to provide a detailed description of the events recorded around your home, Video Descriptions can help you determine whether or not an activity is urgent or ordinary by sending you a concise notification about it.

In a statement released about the feature, Ring’s inventor, Jamie Siminoff said the company is “seizing on the potential of gen AI to shift more of the work of home security to Ring’s AI.” Video Descriptions is the first step in that direction, by helping users quickly determine how important a motion event is with a glance. It will be rolling out first in beta to Ring Home Premium subscribers in the U.S. and Canada.

A smart phone showing a dog chewing up paper towels with a Ring Video Description notification

(Image credit: Ring)

The feature can be enabled through the Ring app and will work with all currently available Ring cameras and doorbells. Once active, it will begin sending users notifications of text descriptions of the motions and activities it picks up, in real time. For example, it can provide helpful information like “two people are peering into a white car in the driveway” or my favorite example, “a dog is tearing up paper towels on the rug.”

Video Descriptions uses real intelligence to limit the notifications to only the main subject of the motion and their action, which keeps the alerts short and to the point. At the same time, Ring is adding custom anomaly alerts which learn the routines of your household and can send you a notification when something is out of the ordinary for your property.

Siminoff said the company is thinking about how to build Ring today as if they were starting with AI as the foundation, and they are just starting to scratch the surface of AI. They see unlimited potential for using it in new experiences they can invent for their customers. “The team and I look forward to introducing new impactful features to all our products, making them better and better, and helping us deliver on our mission to help protect our neighborhoods and communities.”

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Amber Bouman
Amber Bouman
Senior Editor Security

Amber Bouman is the senior security editor at Tom's Guide where she writes about antivirus software, home security, identity theft and more. She has long had an interest in personal security, both online and off, and also has an appreciation for martial arts and edged weapons. With over two decades of experience working in tech journalism, Amber has written for a number of publications including PC World, Maximum PC, Tech Hive, and Engadget covering everything from smartphones to smart breast pumps. 

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