The Florida Division of Emergency Management, with assistance from the University of Florida, unveiled a new program on Wednesday that uses artificial intelligence to deliver real-time messaging before, during and after a disaster strikes.
The Broadcast Emergency Alerts and Communications Operations Network, or BEACON, pulls relevant information from the local, state and federal levels and converts that information from text to voice to deliver over the airwaves in minutes what could previously take hours.
“BEACON combines new technology with the reliability and power of broadcast radio to deliver messages directly to the communities that need them the most through AM radio, FM HD channels and the BEACON mobile app,” said FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie, speaking from UF’s College of Journalism and Communications. “In the state of Florida we have never lost a radio broadcast tower with all of the storms that have hit here.”
Guthrie said the system was tested during Hurricanes and Helene and Milton, and successfully put out more than 4,000 messages.