Arizona Board of Regents supporting AI-powered disaster response efforts

PHOENIX — Arizona State University and the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA) have teamed up to use a new AI-enhanced emergency management system to help with the state’s disaster planning.

An Arizona Board of Regents’ Research Grant is funding the project that will use AI to help predict wildfires and floods, locate potential threats to infrastructure and provide aid to disaster planners to help them work more efficiently. 

The new AI-enhanced system will not entirely replace human decision-making but will instead serve as a tool to help DEMA make important decisions in a timelier manner.

“Our public universities are leaders in advancing the development of new technologies central to our state and nation’s public safety, security and stability,” ABOR Chair Cecilia Mata said in a press release. “This groundbreaking AI collaboration between DEMA, ABOR and ASU is a shining example our commitment to deliver transformative research and innovation that addresses pressing safety needs today and drives positive change into the future.”

How will the system help with disaster planning?

Data analysis, predictive modeling and developing a course of action are three of the main areas the new AI-enhanced system will help DEMA when making decisions that will save lives, property and money.

“AI for emergency management preparedness is absolutely exciting. The Regents’ Grants bring that opportunity to blend the brainiacs at the university with the functional practitioners down on the ground,” Maj. Gen. Kerry Muehlenbeck, DEMA director and adjutant general of Arizona, said in the release.

“Disaster preparedness and response requires data gathering and an analytical assessment of that data. Those things demand a lot of brain power. To be able to do those things at the speed of a machine is going to just knock our capabilities out of the ballpark.” 

ASU faculty and student researchers developed the new system in tandem with ASURE, the school’s nonprofit research and development team which has a specialization in national security.

The model can help predict second level and third-level effects that come after a disaster, such as resulting hospital overcrowding and traffic jams.

“This is about making true impact for the state and helping make Arizona a leader in emergency management,” Paulo Shakarian, Ph.D., the project’s principal investigator and a tenured ASU associate professor in the School of Computing and AI at the Fulton Schools of Engineering, said in the release.

“When you’re dealing with a disaster situation, the ability to respond is really tied to how well prepared you are. The collaboration with DEMA will help us understand how this system, that we’re going to initially field in Arizona, could potentially have broad impact for other states as well.”

The collaborative efforts between ASU and DEMA will last for three phases over three years.

The first phase will see emergency information analytics and root cause analysis serving as focal points. Disaster prediction will highlight the second phase while courses of action will be the final phase’s main point of emphasis.

Related

Man drove car into tanker in Glendale hoping it would blow up, police sayLawsuit challenges validity of thousands of ESA reform ballot measure signaturesKimberly Yee outlines education priorities after GOP primary win3 unidentified individuals caught on video throwing fireworks into Gilbert backyard partyMaryvale High School stabbing suspect reportedly has been offered a plea dealPedestrian dead after getting hit by vehicle in Phoenix