AI COULD HELP SCALE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSES. BUT IT COULD ALSO HAVE BIG DOWNSIDES

As the International Rescue Committee copes with dramatic increases in displaced people in recent years, the refugee aid organization has looked for efficiencies wherever it can — including using artificial intelligence.

Since 2015, the IRC has invested in Signpost — a portfolio of mobile apps and social media channels that answer questions in different languages for people in dangerous situations. The Signpost project, which includes many other organizations, has reached 18 million people so far, but IRC wants to significantly increase its reach by using AI tools.

Conflict, climate emergencies and economic hardship have driven up demand for humanitarian assistance, with more than 117 million people forcibly displaced in 2024, according to the United Nations refugee agency. As humanitarian organizations encounter more people in need, they are also facing enormous funding shortfalls. The turn to artificial intelligence technologies is in part driven by this massive gap between needs and resources.

To meet its goal of reaching half of displaced people within three years, the IRC is building a network of AI chatbots that can increase the capacity of their humanitarian officers and the local organizations that directly serve people through Signpost. For now, the project operates in El Salvador, Kenya, Greece and Italy and responds in 11 languages. It draws on a combination of large language models from some of the biggest technology companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.

The chatbot response system also uses customer service software from Zendesk and receives other support from Google and Cisco Systems.

Beyond developing these tools, the IRC wants to extend this infrastructure to other nonprofit humanitarian organizations at no cost. They hope to create shared technology resources that less technically focused organizations could use without having to negotiate directly with tech companies or manage the risks of deployment.