New Orleans 911 Operators Respond to AI Reporting Concerns
Operators of the 911 service in New Orleans are expressing dissatisfaction with what they label as careless reporting.
This controversy originates from a story claiming that the city’s emergency services are substituting human responders with artificial intelligence for emergency calls.
“No, 911 in New Orleans is not replacing humans with AI,” officials stated.
Initially titled “New Orleans uses AI to respond to 911 calls instead of humans,” the article appeared in the Shreveport Times.
The Orléans Parish Communications District, which manages emergency and public safety calls for New Orleans, is exploring new technologies aimed at reducing the number of dispatchers, as reported by the newspaper.
The report mentioned that there are “over 1,000 emergency calls a day” and indicated that AI had been first employed in April for non-emergency situations, now extending to emergency calls in Louisiana’s largest city.
In reaction, the OPCD deemed the report “highly misleading, inaccurate and contains numerous factual errors.”
Their press release, aptly named “No, 911 in New Orleans is not replacing humans with AI,” contested any allegations of personnel replacement with AI, providing clarity on the intended function of the “AI call triage” tool.
This is where autoresponders play a role.
According to the OPCD, if all operators are occupied and a 911 call comes from within a 200-meter radius of a previously reported incident, the AI will inform the caller about contacting 911 in New Orleans and will inquire whether they are calling regarding the same situation.
“If a caller replies with anything other than ‘yes’ (in any language), they will be placed back in the queue to speak with a human operator,” the organization noted.
If the caller indicates “yes,” the AI will inform them that the incident is already acknowledged and suggest they continue the call if they have additional details or are involved in the ongoing situation. OPCD reiterated that all calls are recorded, including regular voice and data communications.
Even though the OPCD criticized the story as “irresponsible,” the newspaper’s description of the program was not entirely as negative as it may seem. The Times characterized the triage system as a method to assess incoming calls and promptly inform callers.
“This is intended to manage the rise in calls linked to specific incidents,” the article stated.
Furthermore, the outlet clarified that the AI “will not be used to process emergency calls, but will only facilitate routing them to human dispatchers.”
One inconsistency noted is that while the program launched in April, the OPCD mentioned it would actually start being utilized in the fall of 2023.
Regardless, the OPCD accused the Shreveport Times of failing to adequately fact-check their “incredibly inflammatory articles,” labeling their actions as “irresponsible” and “unprofessional.”
In light of the OPCD’s remarks, the Shreveport Times updated its article and title. The revised headline now reads “New Orleans expects limited use of AI to speed response to emergencies.”
The original version of this story did not meet editorial standards and has undergone a thorough review. The publication expressed regret for the error and any inconvenience it caused, assuring updates will follow as new information becomes available.
