Will AI replace Public Safety Telecommunicators?

Many of your tasks are within reach of AI. The role will change, so it pays to act now.

Task exposure to today's AI

52/100

High exposure

This is the occupation's typical task mix. Your own score can be up to 30 points higher or lower depending on how you work: routine share, people contact, judgment and how much you already use AI.

Get your personal score

Will AI replace Public Safety Telecommunicators?

Not entirely. Today's AI tools can take on about 52% of the typical work in this occupation, mostly: record details of calls, dispatches, and messages. The parts that stay human include: Determine response requirements and relative priorities of situations, and dispatch units in accordance with established procedures.; Question callers to determine their locations and the nature of their problems to determine type of response needed.; Receive incoming telephone or alarm system calls regarding emergency and non-emergency police and fire service, emergency ambulance service, information, and after-hours calls for departments within a city..

People who learn to use AI for the automatable parts keep the edge. The 3-phase plan below shows where to start.

Which tasks AI can take on

The largest tasks in this occupation, their share of the working week, and how much of each today's AI tools can do.

TaskAutomatable

Record details of calls, dispatches, and messages. 80%

Monitor various radio frequencies, such as those used by public works departments, school security, and civil defense, to stay apprised of developing situations. 55%

Receive incoming telephone or alarm system calls regarding emergency and non-emergency police and fire service, emergency ambulance service, information, and after-hours calls for departments within a city. 53%

Question callers to determine their locations and the nature of their problems to determine type of response needed. 50%

Relay information and messages to and from emergency sites, to law enforcement agencies, and to all other individuals or groups requiring notification. 45%

Determine response requirements and relative priorities of situations, and dispatch units in accordance with established procedures. 42%

+ 12 more tasks (32% of the week) in the full test.

Your human edge

Determine response requirements and relative priorities of situations, and dispatch units in accordance with established procedures.
Question callers to determine their locations and the nature of their problems to determine type of response needed.
Receive incoming telephone or alarm system calls regarding emergency and non-emergency police and fire service, emergency ambulance service, information, and after-hours calls for departments within a city.

AI tools to try

Microsoft 365 Copilot or Google Gemini for WorkspaceChatGPT / Claude for emails and documentsAutomation tools (Power Automate, Zapier, Make)

Related roles

A 3-phase AI learning plan

Phase 1

Automate the routine

Emails, letters and documents from templates with AI.
Data entry and extraction from forms and PDFs.
Spreadsheet work with AI help.

Project

Use AI to turn 20 de-identified past call logs into a standard incident-summary template and shift-handover report, timing before/after to show minutes saved per report.

Phase 2

Workflows across tools

Connect email, forms and spreadsheets with no-code automations.
Checks and controls on automated steps.
Document how each workflow works.

Project

Build a no-code workflow that takes a non-emergency call-intake form into a tracking spreadsheet and auto-emails the right department, with a validation check on address and priority fields.

Phase 3

From doing to coordinating

Become the person who maintains the team's automations.
Train colleagues.
Look at roles in operations, coordination or process improvement.

Project

Document and hand over two of your automations to three colleagues in a 60-minute training session, then log usage and errors for two weeks and fix every issue raised.

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