Wildfires. Because of climate change, there have been even more of them. Some didn’t do much damage before they were put out. But many did. One problem with stopping fires is spotting them before they get out of hand. If they get too big before firemen can react, there is a major problem. But Cal Fire has found a solution.
Before, to spot wildfires in California, people stood on top of watchtowers. But even on high ground, small, small wildfires can be very difficult to spot for the naked eye. So Cal fire has turned to something relatively new: AI.
Cameras that are attached to a watchtower use artificial intelligence to spot fires that humans can’t. When the AI thinks it sees a fire, it reports back to a base. Then someone reviews the image to see if it is a real fire, not just clouds or dust.
But as you might know, AI is constantly learning. If an AI repeatedly reports a fire that is actually a cloud, and the person confirms it is fake over and over again, it begins to realize the difference between smoke from fires and clouds. And if the AI successfully identifies a fire, it can spot more clouds of smoke that are real fires.
The planet is continuing to warm up, many people have died and many trees have burned. But when it comes to preventing wildfires, we are on the right track.
Source: CNN 10