Using artificial intelligence and social media for disaster response and management: an overview

The ever-increasing popularity of social media platforms has transformed the way in which information is shared during disasters and mass emergencies. Information that emanates from social media, especially in the early hours of a disaster when little-to-no information is available from other traditional sources, can be extremely valuable for emergency responders and decision makers to gain situational awareness and plan relief efforts. To capitalize on this potential, extensive research and development activities have been conducted over the last decade to build technologies to support various humanitarian aid tasks. In this paper, we provide an overview of the literature on using artificial intelligence and social media for disaster response and management from three perspectives: datasets, research studies, and systems. Then, we present further discussion on open research problems and future directions in the crisis informatics domain.