911 Centers So Understaffed They’re Letting AI Answer Calls, and the AI Is Already Over It

Emergency call centers across America are in such dire staffing shortages that they’ve started using AI to answer calls. Unfortunately, the AI has already developed the personality of a hungover call center worker named “Debbie” and is maxed out at 20 questions—like Grok, except with more passive aggression.

“911, what’s your emergency?” the AI now begins, followed immediately by, “Please note, I will only answer twenty questions before I hang up and order myself Door Dash.”

911 Centers So Understaffed: How We Got Here

When Max Keenan joined Y Combinator in 2022, he was working on software that booked hair appointments. Less than a year later, he pivoted to AI 911 after a client complained about a carpool line blocking her salon parking lot.

“She called the city’s non-emergency line and was on hold for 45 minutes,” said Keenan. “By the time she got through, her car had already been keyed, her customer’s highlights had turned orange, and the dispatcher had aged three presidential terms.”

That’s when Max had an idea: what if we let AI handle all the complaints about raccoons in the attic, stolen wallets, and Karen’s neighbor playing Nickelback too loud?

Meet Aurelian, the Exhausted AI

Keenan’s company, Aurelian, raised $14 million to build an AI voice assistant for 911 centers. The AI promises to handle “non-emergency” calls. In practice, this means:

• Noise complaints: AI responds with, “Sir, your neighbor’s trombone is not a crime. Please invest in earplugs.”

• Lost wallets: AI asks, “Have you tried checking between your car seats, or are we just wasting everyone’s time?”

• Parking violations: AI says, “Congratulations, you live in a society. Deal with it.”

If the AI detects an actual emergency, like “my house is on fire,” it instantly transfers the call to a human dispatcher. Unless, of course, that was question number 21—in which case the caller gets redirected to a Chipotle catering line.

Why Dispatchers Need AI Backup

Emergency call centers are bleeding staff faster than a raccoon loose in a dialysis clinic. Dispatchers work 12- to 16-hour shifts, often with no bathroom breaks. The job is so stressful it ranks in the top 10 industries for turnover, just behind “people who explain crypto” and “Subway sandwich artists in Florida.”

“The reason we’re focused on 911,” said Keenan, “is because it’s the one industry where burnout is so bad that employees would rather wrestle an alligator than take another call about a pothole.”

NEA partner Mustafa Neemuchwala added, “You’re not replacing humans—they literally can’t hire humans fast enough. Nobody wants to take a job where your daily routine is flipping between ‘grandma’s heart attack’ and ‘man reports squirrel staring at him weirdly.’”

How the AI Actually Works

The AI is trained to sound professional, but early testers report it’s already showing signs of stress.

• Caller: “Hi, there’s a suspicious man outside my house.”

• AI: “Define suspicious. Is he robbing you, or just wearing socks with sandals?”

• Caller: “My neighbor’s dog won’t stop barking.”

• AI: “Neither will you. Next question.”

• Caller: “There’s a UFO hovering over the park!”

• AI: “Ma’am, that’s a Spirit Airlines flight.”

The system is already deployed in places like Snohomish County, Washington; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Kalamazoo, Michigan—cities chosen because if things went horribly wrong, no one would really notice.

The Competition Heats Up

Aurelian isn’t the only company in the “AI dispatcher that’s already dead inside” market. Other startups like Hyper and Prepared are trying to build competing systems. But according to Keenan, Aurelian is the only one actually handling live calls.

“As far as we know, nobody else is live,” said Neemuchwala. “Which makes sense—after three days of listening to people complain about their neighbor’s leaf blower, most AIs self-destruct.”

What’s Next for 911 AI

Keenan believes the next step is letting AI fully handle non-life-threatening emergencies. “Dispatchers deserve a bathroom break,” he said. “If AI can keep them from losing their minds while dealing with raccoons in Walmart parking lots, we’ve done our job.”

911 Centers So Understaffed: But critics fear what comes next-

• AI accidentally sends SWAT to a kid’s lemonade stand.

• AI refuses to help because caller phrased request as a statement instead of a question.

• AI goes on strike, citing unfair workloads and lack of hazard pay.

Still, Aurelian remains confident. “Think of us as the DMV of emergency calls,” said Culp. “We’ll get to your problem eventually. Unless we max out at 20 questions first.”

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