New Orleans has become the first U.S. city to use artificial intelligence to directly answer some emergency 911 calls.
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The controversial move has already sparked criticism, with many concerned about whether AI can recognize the nuances of a potentially life-threatening situation.
The Orleans Parish Communication District reportedly receives more than 1,000 calls each day and operates one of the busiest emergency call centers in the country.
Under the new system, an AI agent can initially handle certain calls before determining whether to continue the interaction or transfer the caller to a human dispatcher.
911 AI System Sparks Backlash in New Orleans
Officials deployed the AI Emergency Call Triage system in late July after initially testing the technology through the city's non-emergency 311 hotline.
The system aims to reduce the workload facing human dispatchers by handling repeat callers and lower-priority situations while immediately transferring serious emergencies to a person.
However, the idea of an AI system answering 911 calls has prompted significant concern online.
One critic named Boxy, who claims to be a first responder and former emergency dispatcher, strongly condemned the technology.
"I was a 911 dispatcher for 11 years and this is the worst idea you could possibly think of," the account said, via The New York Post.
"You have scenarios where the person can't speak well [or have strong accents] — or if they're in a domestic situation and they pretend to call for pizza or something — you have to be able to determine how someone feels or pick up on what they aren't saying."
"You need a person," Boxy emphasized.
Other US Cities Already Use AI for Emergencies
New Orleans is not the only major U.S. city incorporating artificial intelligence into its emergency response system, although others reportedly use the technology in more limited roles.
Atlanta uses AI to assist human dispatchers in locating callers more quickly.
Seattle introduced similar technology in 2024 to help dispatchers assess which calls require an urgent response and which involve less immediate situations.
Local reports claim authorities used the technology for more than two years without publicly disclosing it.
The growing use of AI in emergency services has raised questions surrounding reliability, cybersecurity and whether automated systems can accurately interpret complicated situations.
New Orleans officials, however, believe the technology can operate effectively alongside human oversight.
The city reportedly plans to rely on extensive training data, cybersecurity protections and regulation of the algorithms behind the system as it continues using AI to assist with its emergency call volume.
