New York City has implemented a new drone warning system to alert residents about dangerous weather conditions. Unfortunately, the drones need to improve their Spanish.
A resident saw one of the new drones broadcasting a flood warning Wednesday to New York City neighborhoods in English and Spanish, but the Spanish words that came out of the drones were “incomprehensible,” according to a resident who shared x.com/J__Velasquez/status/1820914162387558778″ rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:a video on x;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>.
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As a Spanish speaker, I can safely say that this is incomprehensible. The city couldn't find a single Spanish-speaking person to give this alert? https://t.co/uI9ERCuDmV
— Josefa Velasquez (@J__Velasquez) twitter.com/J__Velasquez/status/1820914162387558778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:August 6, 2024;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>August 6, 2024
The drones had no problem issuing a weather alert in English, as they transmitted the news of the arrival of heavy rain in a clear and distinguishable tone. However, the message in Spanish sounded like a robot speaking that language for the first time.
Zach Iscol, commissioner of the New York City Department of Emergency Management, x.com/zachiscol/status/1820971525022830882″ rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:acknowledged the mistake on x;cpos:2;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “> in a response.
“I'm very proud of the work our team has done preparing for this storm, but this should not have happened and we're going to make sure it doesn't happen again,” Iscol wrote in a response.
On Tuesday, The Washington Post published an article about the city’s new emergency drone alert system. The city sent the drones into communities around 1:00 p.m. to inform residents about heavy rains that were coming. Iscol told the paper that New York Mayor Eric Adams came up with the idea of using drones as a new part of its alert system. Adams has instituted similar, tech-heavy initiatives during his tenure, such as the one that patrolled the Times Square subway station and the controversial “Digidog,” also known as the “Digidog,” for the NYPD to use during dangerous situations like hostage standoffs.
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