New Orleans is using AI to triage 911 calls in case of backlog

voakbasda

Good idea. Law enforcement is always looking for new ways to avoid responsibility for its shortcomings and failures. Now they can blame an AI. Classic case of “of course they knew what could go wrong, and that is exactly why they chose that solution.”

injidup

The assumption that because something is important and the consequences are dire when it fails, infinite resources should be allocated is simply wrong. At some point 911 calls will be backlogged. What to do then? Maybe AI triage is the best of the worst options.

selimthegrim

This was debunked, it was in a very limited case of repeat calls from an accident scene.

basilikum

Related: 911 calls answered by AI in New Orleans [video] – 2026-08-11 – https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49258252 New Orleans is testing Carbyne’s AI-powered Emergency Call Triage software – 2026-08-07 – https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49204546

john_strinlai

> "The pattern was every morning and evening during rush hour, there would be an accident, and hundreds of callers called in about the same thing." > "Anyone calling 911 within a 200-meter radius of a live auto accident is now immediately routed to the AI agent" > "the tool engages only for motor vehicle accident calls, only when every human call taker is already busy, & only when the caller is within about 200 meters of a crash that has already been reported." this seems very reasonable to me

pibaker

I don't understand how we can keep giving the police shiny new toys and juicy overtime pays but can't find enough people to take 911 calls.

jimbo808

This is a slippery slope, where the number of operators can be allowed to gradually decline until eventually it’s just AI. And given the unreliability of LLMs, this is a grave concern that will undoubtedly lead to the enshittification of critical services.