Using AI Assistants for Survival Info (Adults 18+, DRAFT)
AI chat assistants can explain, translate and summarise fast. But they make mistakes, sometimes confidently. Use them as a helper to find and understand information, never as the final word, and especially not for medicine, childbirth, water safety or anything strange or unknown.
Before the power or signal goes
- Download what you need now: the free books (06_Free_Survival_Books.md, 02_Medical_Books.md) as PDFs; offline maps; and offline translation language packs on your phone's translator app.
- Offline AI: some phones and laptops can run small AI models with no internet (on-device assistants, or open-source local-model apps). Install and test one while you still have signal. They are smaller and make more mistakes than online models.
- Ask an AI to make printouts while you're online: checklists, a family plan, a phrase sheet in the local language. Then print them. Paper works when batteries die.
With weak signal
- Text-only chat uses much less data than voice or images. Keep questions short and specific.
- Ask for "step-by-step, numbered, under 100 words".
- Some services work by SMS or messaging apps; these are often lighter than websites.
Good uses
Translating signs and talking with helpers · explaining a manual you already have · turning a long guide into a short checklist · planning food and water amounts · calming words and routines for children · drafting messages to family tracing services.
Cautions
- Medical advice must be verified. Check it against a trusted book (Hesperian, WHO, IFRC) or, better, a health worker. Danger signs mean getting skilled help, not chatting.
- Never rely on AI for identifying unexploded objects, safe routes through dangerous areas, or whether water or wild food is safe.
- Privacy: don't share your exact location, ID numbers or children's details with an AI service when you're in a dangerous place.
- Ask for sources, then check that the links are real. AIs can invent references.
- Battery: AI apps drain phones fast. Use airplane mode and a dim screen, and save power for calls.