Artificial intelligence in emergency and crisis management

The following scoping paper, review, and recommendations have been created in response to a request from the European Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) to the Scientific Advice Mechanism. The aim of these documents is to synthesise current knowledge on the use of AI in emergency and crisis management, identifying opportunities and risks, and how these can be mitigated. This is due to the lack thus far of a comprehensive, system-level assessment of the risks of using AI for crisis management in the EU context.

The report provides the following recommendations based off the review:

• A formal, technical assessment of the risks associated with the use of crisis management AI tools.
• The creation of an inventory of AI tools which may already be in use in Member States' environmental, health or other relevant agencies.
• The systematic consideration of the opportunity cost of any recourse to AI solutions.
• Recourse to the recommendations set out in the 2022 GCSA scientific opinion on strategic crisis management.
• Ensuring that humans remain at the centre of decision-making in crisis management.
• Training staff to operate AI as well as non-AI tools in crisis situations.