AI being used to send households hit by Helene and Milton $1,000 cash relief payments

abcnews.go.com:

Some hurricane-impacted households in North Carolina and Florida will receive one-time, direct cash payments of up to $1,500 on Friday

Nearly 1,000 hurricane-impacted households in North Carolina and Florida will benefit this week from a new disaster aid program that employs a model not commonly used by philanthropy in the United States: Giving people rapid, direct cash payments.

The nonprofit GiveDirectly plans to send payments of $1,000 on Friday to some households impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The organization harnesses a Google-developed artificial intelligence tool to pinpoint areas with high concentrations of poverty and storm damage. On Tuesday, it invited people in those areas to enroll in the program through a smartphone app used to manage SNAP and other government benefits. Donations will then be deposited through the app's debit card.

The approach is meant to deliver aid “in as streamlined and dignified a way as possible,” said Laura Keen, a senior program manager at GiveDirectly. It removes much of the burden of applying, and is intended to empower people to decide for themselves what their most pressing needs are.

It won’t capture everyone who needs help — but GiveDirectly hopes the program can be a model that makes disaster aid faster and more effective. “We’re always trying to grow the share of disaster response that is delivered as cash, whether that is by FEMA or private actors,” said Keen.

The influx of clothing, blankets, and food that typically arrive after a disaster can fill real needs, but in-kind donations can’t cover getting a hotel room during an evacuation, or childcare while schools are closed.

“There is an elegance to cash that allows individuals in these types of