Although many publications describe what artificial intelligence (AI) could do for emergency management (EM), almost none describe what AI-enabled products are available or what it would take to adopt and diffuse those products. This information gap matters: Emergency managers and others who support EM functions are making procurement decisions in a crowded technology marketplace with limited time, technical capacity, and standardized information about how AI-enabled products perform against the realities of their work. As hazards and disasters increase in intensity and frequency, the demands on the resources of the EM community often outpace existing capabilities and capacity. AI-enabled products could step in to meet this need.
The Markle Foundation commissioned this landscape assessment as part of its AI for Disasters and Emergencies (AIDE) Initiative to give emergency managers and others who support EM functions, along with technology companies, funders, policymakers, and researchers, a picture of the AI-enabled product landscape and the conditions that will shape how those products can support EM. The authors identified 1,179 AI-enabled products with potential relevance to EM, characterized the products they identified, described what it takes to adopt and diffuse those products, and identified what stands between the availability of those products and broad adoption and diffusion. This report is intended to give the EM community, technology companies, funders, policymakers, and researchers a reliable picture of available AI-enabled products so that they can act on what the landscape suggests for their own decisions, investments, and further work.
