DIY AI-powered doorbell screens visitors so you won’t even have to talk

We’ve all been in that situation where we’re about to do something “very important” when the doorbell suddenly rings repeatedly. We drop everything to rush to the door, only to find out it was nothing worth your time at all. These days, we have audio and video doorbells that let us see who rang the bell and even talk to them, but that still requires you to be near some device to talk, wasting effort and time.

AI agents today have become quite the conversationalists, making it feel like you’re talking to a real person (though perhaps one with a flat personality). Leveraging that technology, this DIY “smart” doorbell uses an AI agent to act as your own personal receptionist, asking visitors the hard questions about their identity and purpose before deciding to open the door or not, all without your manual intervention.

Designer: Roni Bandini

Ever since Google demonstrated Duplex back in 2018 as it expertly made restaurant reservations over the phone, AI has evolved at an almost frightening rate and degree. While trained people will be able to distinguish AI-generated content, most people won’t have that level of expertise to be able to tell if they’re talking to a human behind the chat or not. There are many ways to use and abuse such technologies, and RinGPT employs a conversational AI agent in a rather interesting and amusing way.

The DIY project cobbles together a UNIHIKER board (think Raspberry Pi but with built-in sensors and a touch screen), an LED push button, a Bluetooth speaker, and a servo motor to build a “smart” doorbell which is basically just a home for this ChatGPT agent. Mechanically, it’s a pretty simple concept: a visitor pushes the button, triggering RinGPT to interview the person, asking them who they are.

The AI part comes after this, analyzing the spoken response and judging whether the person is trustworthy or not. If yes, the motor is activated to open the door, otherwise the AI politely turns the visitor away. All of these happen without the homeowner’s manual intervention, though they will definitely be aware if someone rings the doorbell even when they’re not home. RinGPT informs them via the Telegram messaging platform of such events.

Of course, the test scenario raises quite a few red flags, especially considering the AI actually opens the door to people it judged to be welcome. We’re not yet at a point in time where we can consider even the smartest AI agents to be foolproof enough to be used for human security. Something as rough as RinGPT, which has very noticeable and unnatural pauses before it replies, is definitely not yet fit to be a receptionist, let alone a security guard that will let people in your personal safe space.

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