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- Hacker News
- > callers get automatically routed to an AI agent who asks if they are calling regarding the incident. If the answer is yes, then callers can receive information or updates, and if it's no, then the callers are transferred to a human.
Why use something as error-prone as an AI for this simple task? I hope they at least add a "Press 1 for Yes, 2 for no" as a backup.
by armada651 - Isn't there like a $50,000 federal fine if the call isn't answered by a human within 5 seconds or did the federal regime suspend that too?by inigyou
- "For instance, it's possible AI could develop hidden biases. If AI is used for predictive policing algorithms, generating an analysis for when and where crime are most likely to occur, it's possible for results to be skewed by historical crime data from over-policed neighborhoods and marginalized communities."
I really don't understand that concern... So you have either a STT-LLM-TTS or fully native speech model that is instructed to answer calls. When does it generate an analysis? Are you giving the agent some tools to generate the analysis ? Maybe don't.
Also, in general I feel like training some classifier would be slightly better from a humanitary point of view, but I agree that in general reducing the work load of overworked public workers should be a priority of AI application.
by Otterly99 - > This is intended to handle the increase of calls that are related to one incident, so callers get automatically routed to an AI agent who asks if they are calling regarding the incident. If the answer is yes, then callers can receive information or updates, and if it's no, then the callers are transferred to a human.
You don’t need ‘AI’ for this really - all it needs is a prerecorded message asking that question and if the caller presses a button it continues. Or if they don’t respond for N seconds it puts them through to an operator. I guess you could use the AI to record that message ahead of time if they really have to, but it doesn’t need to be running in real time responding to people.
We’ve had stuff like this in the UK for years now to do this to prevent accidental dialling (where it will stop to ask “you are calling XYZ service” please confirm, kind of thing)
by dwroberts - I don't agree with the luddite-esque AI views like using ChatGPT makes you dumber and it thinks for you, but- this is a real case of why people are angry and why they should be concerned about deployment of AI.
The article says it's basically to handle high call volumes maybe during some kind of widespread incident. But in those cases why would AI even be needed- if calls are flooding in for something and people need to be put on hold why do you need AI to ask them if they are calling about incident x? Just automate a voice for that and ask them that while they're on hold / when the system first picks up.
This smells like a bandaid over an underfunded system, and a way to sneak in further cost-cutting in the future where the real calls will be actually answered by AI.
by awongh - Honest question: what type of insurance covers a catastrophic failure when "AI" is implemented like this?
- I believe some places here in Washington are already using this type of solution. As someone with a relatively strong accent, to the point that it often confuses those cheap automated voice systems, I have mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, my accented English could be misunderstood. On the other hand, some of the more advanced systems might actually be able to recognize that I’m speaking Japanese right away, whereas a human operator may first have to figure out what language I’m speaking.
Considering that if I’m calling 911, I’m probably going to be panicked or at least dealing with something urgent, that could be one area where I see a real advantage.
A lot of LLM-based systems seem to be pretty good at detecting and handling many different languages, at least.
by unsignedint - > This is intended to handle the increase of calls that are related to one incident, so callers get automatically routed to an AI agent who asks if they are calling regarding the incident.
This makes sense.
I lived for several years in New Orleans, behind Wagner's in the Bywater. In 2022, it was ranked the 8th most dangerous city in the world. The gunfire was constant. Anyone who knows that corner knows the Family Dollar was so riddled with bullet holes that they eventually stopped repairing them. I'd be enjoying my morning coffee in my backyard, sitting on my bench with the neighbor's calico meowing at me, when fully automatic gunfire would ring out. I'd go to the Facebook group page, where people with military or gun experience would identify the type and caliber of the weapons involved. Then came the pictures of people's cars sprayed with bullet holes, and a story about someone lying in bed when a bullet whizzed over them and hit the opposite wall.
That intersection has cameras everywhere! The police already know what happened. If someone wasn't murdered it would hours before they would come out and look.
When I first moved there I lived in mid-city by 12 Mile Limit. Before I arrived, there was a triple homicide. Then there was a double homicide. The building on the corner had video of everything. They ended up towing the owner of the building's truck because it was evidence. She went to the impound to get it back because the bullet hole was from the previous triple homicide.
During these incidents, which are often (getting better over the last couple years), hundreds or thousands of people can hear them. The sound of fully automatic guns can carry for blocks. Being able to handle all the calls focusing on the few that arrive first likely will improve the service.
by dataviz1000