The “Global DRR vs AI: Opportunities and Emerging Risks” was one of the parallel sessions of 2024 IEEE Belt and Road Congress on AI for Sustainable Development (AICON), 23 June in Hangzhou, China. The session was sponsored by Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence and organised by Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR). The overall objective of this session was to bring together experts working in the fields of DRR, AI and development policy to discuss both the opportunities and emerging risks associated with AI development and other related technologies. 

The session consisted of oral presentations and panel discussions. Professor Qunli Han, Executive Director of IRDR and Professor Jianguo Chen of Tsinghua University served as moderators of the session. Experts from DRR communities, AI research and industries, policy makers, as well as representatives of international organizations committed to Sendai Framework and Open Science illustrated through their presentations that AI has been largely applied in the whole procedure disaster risk reduction via big data analyse, modelling, mapping and so on.

During the panel discussions, actionable recommendations were put forward to research funding mechanisms, provide more opportunities for young researchers, provide affordable access to data under the Open Science Initiative to reduce the digital gaps and inequality, address the potential risks posed by AI while taking advantages of it, and continue to include DRR as one of the main topics in the field of AI.

Information about panel discussion participants and presentations:

• Prof. Dr. Fatmah, Disaster Management Program at School of Environmental Science, University of Indonesia, Indonesia. Artificial Intelligence and Disaster Management 

• Prof. Dr. Natt Leelawat, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. Transforming Disaster Management Research with AI

• Prof. Dr. Gao Liang, State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City, University of Macau, China. Using Numerical Simulation and Digital Twin Methods to Forecast Compound Flood Disasters

• Prof. Dr. Huan Liu, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan. Origin-destination mobility data and its application in disaster risk reduction

• Dr. Lianjie Qin, Tsinghua University, China. Change in global tropical cyclone precipitation footprint from 1980 to 2020