Ethical AI for Disaster Resilience: Centering Frontline Communities

Our dependency on artificial intelligence (AI) is increasing gradually for predicting disaster, allocating resources, emergency response systems, and calculating the impact of the disaster. These new technologies undoubtedly offer unparalleled opportunities to enhance resilience, but their implementation without ethical safety measures could multiply the existing inequalities with humanity. This study makes the case for a paradigm shift in humanitarian engineering toward human-centered AI, with a focus on prioritizing the requirements of frontline communities that are most impacted by climatic extremes. To investigate how design decisions affect equity results, this analysis draws on current developments in climate-resilient infrastructure and AI-driven catastrophe management. Using a policy-oriented perspective, this paper identifies three actionable strategies: mandating equity impact assessments for AI applications in disaster contexts, establishing governance frameworks that include community representation, and incorporating ethical AI training into engineering and public administration curricula. These ideas intend to bring about a convergence of scientific advancement and social justice, with the goal of ensuring that AI enhances human agency rather than diminishing it. Through the incorporation of frontline communities into the process of developing and deploying AI systems, this study will contribute to an approach to catastrophe resilience that is more accountable and inclusive. In conclusion, the article emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration among engineers, policymakers, and affected people to develop AI solutions that are not only effective but also compassionate and egalitarian.