Co-Design Disaster Management Chatbot with Indigenous Communities

Indigenous communities are disproportionately impacted by rising disaster risk, climate change, and environmental degradation due to their close relationship with the environment and its resources. Unfortunately, gathering the necessary information or evidence to request or co-share sufficient funds can be challenging for indigenous people and their lands. This paper aims to co-design an AI-based chatbot with two tribes and investigate their perception and experience of using it in disaster reporting practices. The study was conducted in two stages. Firstly, we interviewed experienced first-line emergency managers and invited tribal members to an in-person design workshop. Secondly, based on qualitative analysis, we identified three themes of emergency communication, documentation, and user experience. Our findings support that indigenous communities favored the proposed Emergency Reporter chatbot solution. We further discussed how the proposed chatbot could empower the tribes in disaster management, preserve sovereignty, and seek support from other agencies.