AI and Generative AI Transforming Disaster Management: A Survey of Damage Assessment and Response Techniques
Journal:
arXiv
Published Date:
May 13, 2025
Abstract
Natural disasters, including earthquakes, wildfires and cyclones, bear a huge
risk on human lives as well as infrastructure assets. An effective response to
disaster depends on the ability to rapidly and efficiently assess the intensity
of damage. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative Artificial Intelligence
(GenAI) presents a breakthrough solution, capable of combining knowledge from
multiple types and sources of data, simulating realistic scenarios of disaster,
and identifying emerging trends at a speed previously unimaginable. In this
paper, we present a comprehensive review on the prospects of AI and GenAI in
damage assessment for various natural disasters, highlighting both its
strengths and limitations. We talk about its application to multimodal data
such as text, image, video, and audio, and also cover major issues of data
privacy, security, and ethical use of the technology during crises. The paper
also recognizes the threat of Generative AI misuse, in the form of
dissemination of misinformation and for adversarial attacks. Finally, we
outline avenues of future research, emphasizing the need for secure, reliable,
and ethical Generative AI systems for disaster management in general. We
believe that this work represents the first comprehensive survey of Gen-AI
techniques being used in the field of Disaster Assessment and Response.
