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Rick Brewer: This is All Things Considered on WCMU, I'm Rick Brewer. Callers looking for non-emergency help in two Michigan counties are picking up and speaking to an AI chatbot named AVA. 911 administrators in Saginaw and Grand Traverse counties say it's helping ease the burden on human dispatchers who manage a lot of calls. Joining me now in studio is WCMU Reporter AJ Jones, who's been looking into this story for us. So AJ, why exactly have these dispatchers started using this AI tool for non-emergency calls?
A.J. Jones: Well, Rick, across the country, there is a severe lack of 911 responders. There was a 2023 survey of 911 professionals across the country, and over 80% of them said they were understaffed. The pay for 911 responders generally isn't that competitive as well. The Bureau of Labor stats says the median salary for them is about 50K a year. I spoke to 911 administrators in two counties doing this. One of them was Saginaw. Saginaw's outgoing 911 director, Chris Zworski, said they have been understaffed for a long time. I also spoke to Grand Traverse Commissioner Corey LaCure. He told me that they're using the chatbot because it will lower the strain on human dispatchers so they can focus on emergencies. They've been doing it for a few weeks.
Corey LaCure: You call dispatch when you need a first responder, and if you need a first responder immediately, you need to call 911. But most of the calls we get, they don't need a first responder at all; they're just calling around trying to find information, trying to get police reports, complain about fireworks.
RB: So what does this chatbot do exactly, AJ?
AJ: So I was told these chatbots only do non-emergency dispatches. The bot is called AVA, that stands for Automated Virtual Agent. It was developed by a company called Aurelion, based in Seattle. They have partnered with other county dispatchers across the country. Basically, when you call the non-emergency dispatch, you get AVA, you make a request, and the chatbot responds based on what you say. And if you need emergency services, they can transfer you to them. So I gave it a call to see how it works. I gave a ring to the Saginaw County non-emergency dispatch line.
Automated Assistant: This is a recorded automated assistant. If this is an emergency, please hang up and dial 911. Para español, presione uno.
AVA: Central Dispatch, this is AVA.
AJ: And then after AVA introduced herself, I asked for the number for a court and she said this.
AVA: Which specific Saginaw County court do you need the phone number for? There are several courts, such as circuit, district, probate, and juvenile and family.
AJ: And then I specified that I wanted the probate court number, and then she gave me that number.
RB: So AJ, one of people's greatest concerns about AI is its impact on jobs. What did these administrators say about that?
AJ: Yeah, well, I asked about that, and the two administrators said they haven't been letting go of staff in favor of AVA. They did say that they believe it is a tool intended to help first responders. You know, Chris Osworski from Saginaw told me that he doesn't see the chatbot as something to displace the dispatchers, but rather to help them.
Chris Osworski: They're a digital assistant, and so this digital assistant is helping them process specific calls that they don't have time to process, and then they review those calls. They decide what action to take.
RB: What did the dispatcher say about how well AVA is working so far?
AJ: Well, both of the 911 coordinators I spoke to said there was some initial hesitation and some issues, but the technology is improving. And in terms of how the community feels, you know, Chris Osworski told me that they've been using it for about a year, and some of the residents in Saginaw County quite like it. They have generally positive reception, and some of the residents he said tend to forget they're talking to a bot when they interact with it.
RB: AJ, thanks for your reporting on this story. We appreciate it.
AJ: Thank you.
