AI ‘aidbot’ helps displaced persons in Lebanon during war

Hania Zataari, a mechanical engineer who works for Lebanon’s Ministry of Industry, created an AI ‘aidbot’ to facilitate assistance during the ongoing war. 

Zataari told BBC it’s a WhatsApp-linked system that asks simple questions, such as persons’ names, locations and the type of assistance they need.

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The info links to a Google Sheet.

Then, Zataari and her team of unpaid volunteers distribute the listed essentials such as food, blankets, medicine and clothes.

AI aidbot provides relief in wartorn Lebanon

Zataari built the program using the website Callbell.eu, a customer support platform for online messaging platforms like WhatsApp.

Nowadays, the AI aidbot cuts down the mechanical engineer’s response time for distributing assistance. 

“I’m not really interested in knowing their names. I just need to know where they are so I can manage the delivery,” she told BBC.

For example, let’s say a person requested for baby formula. 

The AI aidbot will ask for the baby’s age and the quantity needed so that she and her team can provide it. 

Hania Zataari says she funded the project with donations from Lebanese people living abroad. 

She also created a publicly available dashboard to record the project’s expenditures and the amount of money the team distributed. 

At the time of writing, they have delivered 78 food parcels, 900 mattresses and 323 blankets to families across Lebanon.

John Bryant, a research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute, commended the AI aidbot for exhibiting the technology’s unique humanitarian application.

However, he told the BBC he was unsure whether or not other parts of the world can replicate this use case.

“It’s the local designers, the local translators, the trusted human interlocutors, and elements within that system that elevate digital tools into something useful,” he added.

UNICEF Lebanon says it “continues to face an enormous funding gap” as it only receives 20% of its required funding.

Nevertheless, Zataari’s AI aidbot continues to provide some relief to affected families during the ongoing conflict.