Artificial intelligence has potential to improve emergency and crisis management, but struggles to interpret complex situations - experts tell the European Commission

Today the Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) releases its report and recommendations on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in emergency and crisis management.

AI is transforming how data is collected, analysed, and processed, leading to the development of numerous tools and applications in this field. Examples include using AI for drought assessment, wildfire decision support, and weather forecasting models. However, the use of AI technologies in crisis management remains limited. For these reasons, the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) asked the SAM to investigate ongoing applications of AI in emergency and crisis management.

AI performance

The SAM report, provided by the Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (SAPEA), synthesises the knowledge on AI performance across different crisis management tasks and provides frameworks for understanding AI's risks and opportunities.

Based on in-depth knowledge gathering, experts have conveyed to the European Commission that AI has the potential to enhance situational awareness, forecasting, damage assessment and support to decision-making during crises.

AI excels in:

• Standardised, data-heavy tasks typical in frequent disasters like floods, wildfires and droughts
• Repetitive tasks like environmental monitoring for early warning systems
• Damage assessment and processing social media data

However, AI faces challenges in:

• Interpreting complex contexts
• Handling new situations without adequate training data

Moreover, morally complex decisions should not be left to AI tools. The report stresses the importance of careful monitoring to ensure AI tools comply with legal frameworks, avoid algorithmic biases, and maintain human control and responsibility over AI decisions.

It also emphasises developing benchmarks, guidelines, and codes of conduct. This framework would enable AI testing with careful supervision and ethical oversight before fully deploying AI technologies.

Recommendations

The report is complemented by a series of recommendations from the GCSA, the Commission’s science advisors. They call for a technical assessment of the risks and the social acceptability of such risks, a database of existing tools, and the systematic consideration of alternatives before decisions are taken to deploy AI. The advisors also highlight the need for data harmonisation, recall the importance of keeping humans at the centre of the decision-making process, and underline the importance of training staff.

Background

AI encompasses a wide range of technologies, methodologies, and applications, including machine learning, computer vision, and natural language processing.

The Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) provides independent scientific evidence and policy recommendations to the College of European Commissioners on any subject, including on issues that the European Parliament and the Council consider to be of major importance. The SAM comprises the Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (SAPEA) which brings together Europe’s academies and Academy Networks to review and synthesise evidence and the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (GCSA), seven eminent scientists whose role is to make policy recommendations.

This SAPEA Rapid Evidence Review Report was commissioned by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) from the Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM). It aims to inform ongoing efforts to advance the use of AI within the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) and crisis centres throughout Europe.

It aligns with major EU regulations like the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). While focused on natural hazards, the scope may extend to Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) risks where evidence is available.

More information

Scientific Advice Mechanism: Artificial Intelligence in Emergency and Crisis Management

Artificial Intelligence in emergency and crisis management - Statement by the Group of Chief Advisors

Workshop on Resilience to Natural Hazards through AI Solutions