The 911 call center was overwhelmed and has changed significantly since it was introduced 50 years ago. Long waiting times can be fatal in one’s life or death situation. With AI analyzing calls and texts, they can save lives by reducing waiting times for emergency calls.
Let’s first look at how this process works. Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a type of AI. This is the ability of the machine to understand, analyze, and produce human speech. When NLP is increasingly sophisticated in doing these things, there will be many applications for that.
The ability to request films on TV is one way NLP influences our daily lives. We can also ask our cellphone to find directions or type text. We can ask our home assistant to arrange a timer, buy things, get a taxi, or tell jokes. This comfort does not really change lives, but this is the power of NLP.
The future and the true strength of this system is when AI not only talks with humans, but also with other AIs. It will also introduce a whole new training problem where algorithms written by one company or city must be integrated and negotiated with many other algorithms written by other companies or cities. The opportunity is extraordinary.
A good example of what might happen after AI communicates with each other is the call to 911 which must be transferred quickly and correctly. Using NLP and AI that speak with AI, complex systems with access to everything from traffic lights to hospital ERs will be a smooth part of the process.
With 911 being smart, you will know that your emergency call will reach humans and resources will be secured. Because AI recognizes through sentiment analysis that you are in real danger or pain, there will be a little fear that you are stuck in a queue behind a toddler someone who calls 911 while playing games on dad’s phone.
There are irreplaceable human beings on the other end of the line who are calm, rational, and with much compassion, help people in their time of need. But there are all kinds of systems and data available, that is connected and communicating with one another, could make those invaluable humans response times faster and result in more people being helped.
With AIs, each crew’s right crew gets dispatched, light cycles are synced to accommodate the emergency vehicles, the ER is ready, and so on. The results of these integrated systems were saved when applied to a real emergency.
There are irreplaceable human beings on the other end of the phone line who calmly, rationally, and with much compassion, help people in their time of need. But there are all sorts of systems and data available, that if connected and communicating with one another, could make those invaluable humans response times faster and result in more people being helped.
With AIs talking to each other the right crew gets dispatched, the light cycles are synced to accommodate the emergency vehicles, the ER is ready, and so on. The results of these integrated systems could save lives when applied to a real emergency.
It takes a lot of time and a lot of data to train an algorithm to understand whether the person on the other end of the call is in serious jeopardy or if it’s a butt dial. Fortunately (unfortunately?) there is a lot of data available. 911 call centers take calls and texts from people reporting things and requesting assistance.
All of this data can be used to train systems to understand sentiment — tone, syntax, content, and urgency. With the addition of other AIs providing time-saving services, like an ambulance being dispatched, you can see how AI-to-AI interactions can save lives. An estimated 240 million 911 calls are made in the US each year, according to the National Emergency Number Association. Before you disregard the idea of AI answering emergency calls, remember AI is a solution that can not only route calls more efficiently, but even respond quickly enough to help save lives.