Lost in the wild? AI could find you
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Hikers stranded in remote areas with no cell service or WiFi might have a new lifeline: AI.
The big picture: AI is helping some rescue teams find missing people faster by scanning satellite and drone images.
Zoom in: "AI's contribution is that it can dramatically reduce the time to process imagery and do it more accurately than humans," David Kovar, director of advocacy for NASAR and CEO of cybersecurity company URSA Inc., tells Axios.
Context: It's just one of many resources rescue teams use to help them, Kovar stresses.
AI already is eerily good at geolocating where photos are taken.
- Last month, the body of a hiker lost for nearly a year was found in Italy in a matter of hours after The National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps used AI to analyze a series of drone images.
The intrigue: We also know when people are given the option to share their location as a safety measure, they do it.
What's next: AI agents could be trained to fly drones via an automated system. It's a theory Jan-Hendrik Ewers made the subject of his PhD at the University of Glasgow.
- "You could have a fully automated system that monitors reports and triggers drone-based search efforts before a human has lifted a finger," Ewers tells Axios.
- Barriers to implementing this kind of system are many: money, politics and the fact that when lives are at stake, relying on experimental AI could complicate efforts.
The other side: Some lost people don't want to be found. And, lost people can't consent.
- Nearly everyone will want this help, but "there will be cases where, for example, a person who is a victim of domestic violence says she's going out hiking, but she's not. She's not intending to come back," Greg Nojeim, senior counsel and director for Democracy & Technology's Security and Surveillance Project tells Axios.
AI ethics depend on the circumstances, and who is using it, William Budington, senior staff technologist at nonprofit advocacy organization Electronic Frontier Foundation, tells Axios.
- If it's used to save lives and private data used in a rescue operation is wiped after a hiker is found, there is less of a concern, he says.
- "But, using it to scan images or locate and surveil people, especially those that don't want to be found — either just for privacy reasons, or political dissidents, perhaps — that's a worrying possibility."
Reality check: First responders must follow HIPAA guidelines for health information, while law enforcement must adhere to privacy laws with all gathered data, including search results and AI use.
The bottom line: If you don't want AI looking for you, hike smart.
