AI aid truck planned for Uganda field tests

The World Food Programme is preparing an AI-enabled aid truck for field tests in Uganda in 2028, as humanitarian agencies look for ways to use artificial intelligence in dangerous and fast-moving crises.

The remotely controlled SHERP vehicle was displayed at the AI for Good summit in Geneva. SHERPs are amphibious trucks that can move through water, swamps and flooded areas and climb over obstacles.

WFP already uses driver-operated SHERPs to deliver aid in Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda. After losing drivers in dangerous settings, it asked the German Aerospace Center to help adapt the vehicles with AI and other systems so a human operator can steer them from a safer control room during the most hazardous part of a journey.

Armin Wedler, who coordinates the German Aerospace Center's AHEAD project, said full autonomy would be possible technically but was not the aim in complex humanitarian settings. He said a human must remain involved because aid convoys can face terrain without roads and unpredictable crowds.

Other UN-linked projects shown in Geneva include a UNHCR Legal Virtual AI Assistant designed to help lawyers and legal officers assess refugee rights under country-specific laws. Rebeca Moreno Jimenez of UNHCR's Innovation Service said faster legal case-building can be life-saving for refugees.

The DISHA initiative is also using AI to analyse anonymised mobile phone data to identify mass population movements during disasters and satellite images to assess building damage. DISHA product lead Andreas Kortis said the goal is to give humanitarian responders earlier information so they can decide where help is most needed.

Aid agencies are also facing warnings about AI risks, including the protection of sensitive data and misinformation about their work and beneficiaries.