Shiori Saeki and Miki Mishima, first-year students in College of Science and Engineering, and some students belonging to the student circle “Kanazawa University Volunteer Support Station (nicknamed as Bora-Sapo)” (*1), and its advisor Kaisei Harada, Lecturer from Faculty of Economics and Management, have collaborated with Shigehiro Karashima, Associate Professor from Institute of Liberal Arts and Science, Professor Hidetaka Nambo and Associate Professor Masashi Kanai, from Faculty of Transdisciplinary Sciences, and System Support Inc. (STS, Representative Director Ryoji Koshimizu) have developed an AI agent (*2) that is beneficial to participants and organizers during volunteer activities for recovery from disaster.
The earthquake and heavy rain that struck the Noto Peninsula in 2024 caused devastating damages to the lives of residents in the area, making people recognize the importance of volunteer activities for recovery from disaster. However, the number of participants is often insufficient due to the lack of information, according to a survey by the Cabinet Office. To overcome the issue, students from Kanazawa University and faculty members in medicine, economics and AI came together to form a team called “Digi-Sapo” and developed an AI agent that provides accurate and practical information about volunteer activities.
The AI-assisted tool provides guidance on safety measures and necessary preparations via LINE as well as personalized advice based on personality assessments within the app so as to reduce anxiety during activities, thereby achieving sustainable volunteer activities. When a pilot experiment was conducted with “Bora-Sapo” participants, 85% of users highly rated it, stating that they would “like to recommend it to others”. Public release of the app that will be widely available through the LINE friend registration is in preparation.
There have been very few similar tools thus far, and this can increase participants by providing timely and accurate information of activities and ensuring safety and personal preference.
Figure: Summary of the AI agent developed for disaster volunteer activities. Note that the screen shot of chatbot using LINE is under construction.
【Glossary】
*1： Kanazawa University Volunteer Support Station (Bora-Sapo)
A Kanazawa University extracurricular activity group founded in 2011, due to the Great East Japan Earthquake. It made immediate actions for the recovery from disaster upon the Noto Peninsula earthquake and heavy rain in 2024, while also working continuously at disasters in remote areas.
*2： AI agents
AI agents is an autonomous system equipped with advanced natural language processing capabilities that perform tasks flexibly and precisely based on human instructions and needs. Using knowledge learned from vast amounts of data, they provide effective support across a wide range of areas, including conversation, decision-making and information provision.
Click here to see the press release【Japanese only】
Researcher's Information: Shigehiro Karashima
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