Voice analysis, early detection of fires, disaster analysis… If firefighters devote themselves body and soul to their mission, artificial intelligence can be this crutch, necessary for better care of victims and dangers. Between studies and projects, AI, little by little, will transform the work of firefighters.
Firstly, in the field, this technology will make it possible to replay scenarios to better anticipate them. “With Aum-Byosync and SAD Marketing, we are trying to see how, by taking historical data, we can optimize interventions. For example, we will be able to take statistical data from a very rainy Friday afternoon, see the most frequent disasters and thus anticipate them,” explains Thibaut Reffay, fire officer and co-founder ofAtraksis, an association which links start-ups in AI and Sdis. For a more structural purpose, artificial intelligence will be able to improve strategic choices regarding the location of fire stations, the number of trucks at a particular location or the number of firefighters on an intervention. “The goal is efficiency,” adds Stéphane Theron, in charge of the Innovation Center on the occasion of the Congress of French firefighters which took place from October 4 to 8 in Toulouse.
Anticipate the spread of a fire
Added to this is the heart of the firefighter’s job: fires. “We will be able to study the behavior of fire thanks to the CNRS FireCaster project. A forest fire is subject to many parameters. The spread is linked to the typology of the vegetation. Now that we have data, between the weather, the location of the fire, etc., we will be able to have models to qualify the probability of the evolution of the disaster, the axis, the speed. We do not predict the future but we rely on statistics and probability,” explains the AI specialist in the fire service.
Not to mention, obviously, the use of satellite images and drones which can already detect early forest fires. These AI can interpret the first signals and advise whether it is an outbreak of fire or a small blaze of no consequence which does not require the intervention of fire fighters.
But the human in all this? “One of the studies that we would like to pursue is on the use of AI to analyze call taking. It could detect keywords, analyze the emotions of the operator and the victim and even automatically translate languages,” hopes Thibaut Keffay. “This could help detect stress factors in the voice. The elements can be analyzed to refute or confirm what the person says and provide additional information on the status of the person,” adds Stéphane Theron of SDIS of Haute-Garonne. For the moment, nothing has yet been developed and this AI will have to go through the testing phase before being deployed on national and European territory.
“AI is not here to replace humans”
For firefighters, connected vests could also be implemented to monitor data from firefighters in action. “These vests could prevent the dangers faced by people in the field. If a firefighter is under thermal stress, he can be warned that he must go out,” specifies the co-founder of Atraksis.
“Artificial intelligence is not there to replace humans but to become more efficient in identifying disasters and securing our responders and victims,” finally reassures Stéphane Théron. “We attach paramount importance to the training of our teams. It’s not black magic, it’s a science whose impact can be very interesting for our services,” concludes officer Thibaut Reffay.