When Alexa Calls 9-1-1…..
CES, formerly the Consumer
Electronics Show, recently concluded in Los vegas. Alexa conquered the show,
and seemed to be eveerywhere. Alexa is, of course, the voice-activated digital
assistant developed by Amazon.
Alexa has a long and growing
list of commands ranging from “Alexa Shut Up” to “Alexa Give me a Game of
Thrones Quote” to skills commands like “Alexa Ask Lyft for a Ride” which
enables a specific skill written by Lyft to engage their car-sharing service.
Alexa is being married with a
new geneeration of “smart devices”. So if your light bulbs are smart enough,
Alexa can control them (Alexa, turn off the lights in the bedroom”). If your
garage door is smart enough, Alexa can open it. Audio equipment, smart phones,
even cars (Ford is building Alexa into it’s vehicles) will have Alexa controls.
Anything that can be connected will be connected to Alexa.
But what happens when you say
“Alexa, call 9-1-1”?
Right now, of course, nothing
happens. Alexa cannot use the telephone, or make a phone call. But, it can –
and does – send data and your voice across the internet to the Amazon cloud.
And, as Amazon develops Alexa’s expertise, it is only a matter of time until
such a “call 9-1-1” skill is built.
The Bright Side of Alexa 9-1-1 Calls
Anyone who has been a victim
of a crime understands the potential for using Alexa to call 9-1-1. Someone
breaks into your houose, and you fumble to find a phone and fumble to unlock it
and then punch in 9-1-1. But Alexa is “always on, always listening”. You simply
say “Alexa, call 9-1-1”.
But then what happens? Does
Alexa “keep the line open” so you can talk to the 9-1-1 opeerator? What if you
have to leave the room or get out of Alexa’s range as you retreat into a closet
or try to find the burglar? Should an individual Alexa device in one room
automatically activate all the other Alexa devices (Echo, Dot, Tap, Firestick,
etc.) everywhere in the house and put them on the line with the 9-1-1
operator?
Alexa will soon be able to
control video cameras and audio devices throuoghout the house. Should “Alexa,
call 9-1-1” automatically activate all such devices? Should it connect them to
digital recorders or maybe automatically connect them all to the 9-1-1 center
so the operator can hear and see what is going on? (9-1-1 centers can not
receive video right now, but with NextGen 9-1-1 that capability will become
available).
FirstNet will be deploying a
nationwide cellular network for First Responders and their smart phones, mobile
and tablet computers. With FirstNet, responding officers could actually connect
via a push through from the 9-1-1 operator, as they are responding , with such
inputs – video cameras and Alexa devices, so officers could hear and see what
is happening inside the house.
There will also be
Alexa-enabled vehicles. Could an Alexa-enabled vehicle become somewhat “self
aware”, so it might detect that it is being hotwired – that its owneer is not
present, and call 9-1-1 to aleert police of the crime in progress? Or perhaps
the car wouold detect that its windows are being broken, activate tiny video
cameras around the car, and also, with Alexa, alert the 9-1-1 center of a
crime in progress.
But some 9-1-1 emergencies
are not crimes, but a fire. The urgency of a quick connection to 9-1-1 is
underscored in a fire, as people need to call 9-1-1 and get out of the premises
quickly. Alexa-capable devices will eventually connect to fire alarms and
sensors in the house. Perhaps, eventually, people will also have sensors in
their clothes so Alexa could also precisely locate people inside a house. These
devices will eventually have GPS beacons so their locations are precisely
known. All of this information could be available to responding firefighters so
they could see the location of the fire and potentially the location of every
human being and pet inside the home, invaluable information for saving lives in
the first few seconds after firefighters arrive.
Many 9-1-1 calls are medical emergencies
– diabetic shock or a heart attack or a stroke or a fall. Again, Alexa will be
invaluable in summoning aid. An elderly person falls and shatters her femur.
With Alexa, all she would have to say is “Alexa, call 9-1-1” and she’d be
immediately connected to help.
Again, biosensors are being embedded in
humans today and this trend will continue. Heart pacemakers, insulin pumps,
glucos monitors, blood pressure monitors are all devices wwe attach to our
bodies to monitor our health. These devices could eventually be controlled by
Alexa, or at least send information to Alexa, which would establish a history
and pattern which could be invaluable to the paramedic responding to 9-1-1
calls. With “Alexa, call 9-1-1” plus FirstNet all of that information could be
sent to the 9-1-1 center and then pushed through to responding medical
technicians and hospitals.
In fact, the potential for such
life-saving applications could, eventually, lead to a mandate that all
voice-activated digital assistants in a home must have the capability to call
9-1-1just as today every cell phone – even if you haven’t paid the bill, are
mandated to connect 9-1-1 calls to a public safety answering point.
The Dark Side of Alexa 9-1-1 Calls
Just as Alexa’s potential for saving
lives and solving crimes through 9-1-1 calling is the “bright side”, there is
also a “dark side” of enabling this capability.
The most immediate effect will be on
understaffed 9-1-1 centers. The sheer number of 9-1-1 calls will rise. The
quality of the calls may also drop as people try to talkl to their voice
enabled devices as they move from room to room, making it hard for 9-1-1
operators to hear and interact with the caller. In fact, many Alexa-based 9-1-1
calls may become the equivalent of a “9-1-1 hang-up” call today, where officers
are dispatched out of concern that domestic violence or another crime is
occurring and the caller is unable to reconnect with the 9-1-1 center.
In addition, Public Safety Answering
Points (PSAP’s) may become overloaded with data during these calls. Security
companies will rush to develop Alexa-enabled products. These could be video
cameras placed around the house, coupled with movement sensors, heat/fire
sensors, door and window sensors (to determine if a door/window is open or
shattered), and so forth. Such a system would allow a homeowner to know the
status of her home at any time or place. But all of this data could also be
transmitted to a 9-1-1 center (via FirstNet) and pushed out to responders
enroute. With the advent of inexpensive video cameeras, the sheer amount of
data (multiple video feeds, for example) would easilly overwhelm the 9-1-1
center.
Privacy, Hacking
Today there is significant concern about
the amount of data and information collected about individuals today throough
their use of the internet and social media. The advent of voice-activated
digital assistants and homes of sensors increases those concerns.
Beyond the data collection is the
potential for hacking these digital assistants – or the smart devices they
control. We can imagine many frightening scenarios, such as criminals hacking
into a home’s smart devices and directing them to open all the doors and
windows to simplify a burglary. Worse yet, a criminal syndicate or a hostile
nation state might direct all the Alexas (or other digital assistants) in a
city or state to “call 9-1-1” overwhelming 9-1-1 cwenters and first responders
and throwing a nation into chaos.
Conclusion
“Alexa, Call Nine One One”. Five simple
words which carry such power, such potential for improving public safety,
solving crimes and rushing aid to victims of fires and health emergencies. Five
simple words which raise numerous issues about the staffing preparedness of our
9-1-1 center and public policy which our elected leaders will need to address.