Artificial intelligence has drastically evolved over the years, to the point, it is used to control wildfires. In the last decade alone, wildfires have claimed 200 lives and caused billions in damage. This motivated software engineers to create a system that detects wildfires. A California based company, DigitalPath, came up with an AI that detects any wildfire anomalies.
DigitalPath relies on over 1,000 high quality cameras that are placed in highly combustible areas throughout the state and are monitored by AI. These cameras are able to see across 70 miles during the day and are paired with infrared night vision to see 110 miles at night. In addition, these cameras are capable of doing a 360-degree sweep every 2 minutes and surveying the area 24/7. The AI searches for fog, dust, and steam, and sends an image that highlights any anomalies to California firefighters. Thanks to the AI, firefighters have been able to prevent several wildfires from getting out of hand. In just 2 months, 77 fires have been detected before there was any 911 reports.
“The success of this project is the fires you never hear about,” said Phillip SeLegue
However, this AI is the first of it’s kind and it isn’t perfect. It still requires human intervention, and is very sensitive. Anything that appears to be smoke is reported, some are falsely identified as fires and so engineers have to personally inspect these anomalies to identify the location and veracity of the wildfires.
“You wouldn’t believe how many things look like smoke,” Ethan Higgins, a chief architect of the software.
In hopes of achieving their goal, engineers and firefighters are actively training the AI program to accurately detect fires. As stated by the head of the program, it is still in it’s early stages. There is still time until it works as intended to.
Related Stories:
https://www.themountaineer.com/news/national/california-firefighters-use-ai-to-battle-wildfires/article_38cc3ad3-82f1-5183-80fd-f8f969327eef.html
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-24/can-ai-fight-wildfires-california-is-counting-on-it
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/us/wildfires-ai-detection-california.html
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/california-is-controlling-its-wildfires-using-ai-tech
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/23/us/fighting-wildfire-with-ai-california-climate/index.html
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