AI camera mistakes guitar for pillion rider in Bengaluru, issues fine for not wearing helmet

An artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled enforcement traffic camera, installed to detect traffic violations in Bengaluru, recently issued a routine helmet violation challan to a not-so-routine defaulter: a guitar case riding on its owner’s back.

Souvik Dutta was travelling on his scooter from Hebbal towards Tin Factory with a guitar strapped to his back. The AI camera apparently mistook the guitar case for a pillion rider and wrongly identified it as a person travelling without a helmet. A challan, along with a photograph captured by the camera, was subsequently sent to Mr. Dutta’s wife who owns the scooter.