Post by @neurovagrant@masto.deoan.org

@neurovagrant@masto.deoan.org 17 hours ago

RE: https://dair-community.social/@alex/116977123749133116

I was a 911 dispatcher for a decade.

To really understand how absolutely terrible an idea it is to have AI answer 911 calls, I'll present you with a single real-life call:

Upon answer, the caller calmly began ordering a pizza. Large, pepperoni. Side order of chicken wings. To be delivered promptly.

The only sign the caller gave that things were amiss? She rather ignored the first few questions from the calltaker.

Because she was being physically abused, had already been beaten, and her abuser was *IN THE ROOM* listening to her order pizza.

Tell me how your AI is going to read between those lines.

17 hours ago

AI has no place in 911 calls. From Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000’s latest episode “State of Emergency”.

(with @emilymbender)

4 Replies

0 Boosts

Ian Campbell

@neurovagrant@masto.deoan.org 16 hours ago

This call happened more than twenty years ago, and I didn't take it.

The calltaker who did was brilliant, because it took her exactly one repetition, only one missed beat, to understand what the call really was.

We spent several hours in training *just* dissecting, sitting with, and understanding that one call, because the concept behind it was so important.

Ian Campbell

@neurovagrant@masto.deoan.org 16 hours ago

I want to know how many caller's lives are worth not having to hire human 911 dispatchers, or pay them a decent wage.

Because this will kill people. Not get people killed. AI use in 911 answering will actively kill people.

fuzzyfuzzyfungus

@fuzzyfuzzyfungus@cyberplace.social 15 hours ago

@neurovagrant This seems like the massively important point to hammer home as often(and as loudly and publicly) as possible.

There might be some genuine kool-aide drinkers out there(who still shouldn't be allowed near important things); but more than a few "AI" initiatives are pretty cynical exercises in people trying to get away with adjusting spending to match how much they care; and that's not something you want people to get the benefit of the doubt for.

Matt Blaze

@mattblaze@federate.social 4 hours ago

@neurovagrant that is such a great example of the kind of subtextual clues that can speak volumes in a duress situation and that an experienced human operator would have little trouble picking up on. But for an AI system that’s like the Turing test on hard mode.