{"id":97128,"date":"2019-07-23T16:25:51","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T16:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/?p=433792"},"modified":"2019-07-23T16:25:51","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T16:25:51","slug":"check-out-the-ways-ai-is-helping-save-lives-in-emergencies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/07\/23\/check-out-the-ways-ai-is-helping-save-lives-in-emergencies\/","title":{"rendered":"Check out the ways AI is helping save lives in emergencies"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Disaster can bring out the best in human nature. Emergency service<\/span> personnel<\/span>, rescue crews and volunteers work tirelessly, often putting their own lives at risk. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Whether they\u2019re responding to a natural disaster<\/span> or other accident<\/span>, rescue and relief teams increasingly us<\/span>e<\/span> AI as a vital tool to save lives and <\/span>to <\/span>get help to the right place at the right time.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>hese are some of the technologies<\/span> from organizations beyond Microsoft that are<\/span> <\/span>making a difference in disaster zones.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

[Subscribe to <\/span><\/i>Microsoft on the Issues<\/span><\/i><\/a> for more on the topics that matter most.]<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

Robot rescuers<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

When a building collapses, rescuers will look for voids<\/span>, <\/span>spaces in the rubble where a person could be trapped. This is <\/span>often<\/span> slow, painstaking work in cramped and dangerous conditions. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Enter <\/span>S<\/span>nakebot<\/span>: a <\/span>5<\/span>\u2013<\/span>centimeter<\/span>-wide robot equipped with lights and cameras that can squeeze into tight spaces. Developed by <\/span>Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Snakebot<\/span> <\/span>can crawl, climb, roll and even swim. <\/span>P<\/span>rototypes were used in the aftermath of the Mexico City earthquake in September 2017<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span>O<\/span>perators sen<\/span>t<\/span> the robot to search voids too small or unstable for people or search dogs to enter. Learning from that experience, the team that designed it now plan<\/span>s<\/span> to add microphones and sensors that can detect hazardous gas.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

In Japan, t<\/span>he <\/span>meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant<\/span><\/a> after the tsunami that struck <\/span>the country<\/span> in 2011 <\/span>required <\/span>robots to enter areas that people couldn\u2019t. <\/span>Teams sent a<\/span> variety of remote<\/span>\u2013<\/span>controlled and autonomous machines<\/span> to inspect and remove the fuel rods. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Eye in the sky<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

Drones are giving emergency services a bird\u2019s<\/span>\u2013<\/span>eye view of disaster zones, which is proving particularly useful in fighting wildfires. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Using <\/span>surveillance drones<\/span><\/a> that can stay aloft for hours<\/span>, and <\/span>small quadcopters<\/span>, operators on the ground <\/span>can <\/span>see how a fire is behaving <\/span>in real time <\/span>and <\/span>the <\/span>hazards in the way. Some <\/span>drones <\/span>are equipped with thermal<\/span>\u2013<\/span>imaging cameras or laser<\/span>\u2013<\/span>imaging systems that <\/span>help <\/span>firefighters build maps predicting where fire<\/span>s<\/span> will spread.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

R<\/span>esearchers are developing ways of using swarms of autonomous drones to assist firefighters on the ground. The Defen<\/span>s<\/span>e Science and Technology Laboratory in the U.K. and the U<\/span>.<\/span>S<\/span>.<\/span> Air Force Research Laboratory recently ran the <\/span>Swarm and Search AI 2019 Fire Hack<\/span><\/a> competition, looking for new algorithms and AI <\/span>applications <\/span>for planning and executing complex drone missions.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Recent devastating blazes like <\/span>2018\u2019s Camp Fire in California<\/span><\/a> demonstrate the need for such resources. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span><\/b>argeted help<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

When a disaster strikes, <\/span>large<\/span> amounts of information fl<\/span>ow<\/span> into control rooms and emergency call <\/span>centers<\/span>. Making sense of <\/span>it<\/span> is vital to <\/span>prioritizing <\/span>the response and <\/span>to <\/span>deploying<\/span> <\/span>resources and personnel <\/span>correctly<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

AI can trawl through <\/span>vast quantities of data in a very short time<\/span><\/a>, spotting patterns that <\/span>may not be <\/span>apparent to people under stress. <\/span>Capabilities<\/span> <\/span>include<\/span> prioritizing emergency calls <\/span>and <\/span>analyzing<\/span> social media to <\/span>create<\/span> a picture of events unfolding in real time. <\/span>DigitalGlobe\u2019s<\/span> Open Data Program<\/span><\/a>, which provides high-resolution satellite imagery <\/span>for disaster response<\/span>,<\/span> was used in the aftermath of Cyclone <\/span>Idai<\/span> in 2019 to identify damaged roads, buildings and infrastructure from space.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

In September 2018, Microsoft announced the <\/span>AI for Humanitarian Action<\/span><\/a> program<\/span> in collaboration with the United Nations.<\/span> This $40 million, five-year Microsoft initiative harnesses the power of AI to help with disaster recovery and supports nonprofit and humanitarian organizations through financial grants, partnerships<\/a><\/span> and technology investments, in addition to <\/span>technical expertise<\/span><\/a>. This work is across the areas of disaster response; refugees and displaced people; human rights; and the needs of children, and is part of Microsoft\u2019s AI for Good suite, a growing $125 million commitment to using AI to help unlock solutions to some of society\u2019s biggest challenges. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

For more on AI <\/span><\/i>innovation<\/span><\/i>, visit\u202f<\/span><\/i>https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/ai<\/span><\/i><\/a>. And follow @<\/span><\/i>MSFTIssues<\/span><\/i><\/a> on Twitter.\u202f\u202f<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Disaster can bring out the best in human nature. Emergency service personnel, rescue crews and volunteers work tirelessly, often putting their own lives at risk.   Whether they\u2019re responding to a natural disaster or other accident, rescue and relief teams increasingly use AI as a vital tool to save lives and to get help to the right place at the right […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[135,50],"class_list":["post-97128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-recent-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}