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This BBC article provides an interesting report on the use of AI-assisted cameras to detect forest fires in France, as part of the ongoing efforts to prevent and contain these tragic natural disasters. As the article emphasises, rapid responses to growing fires are critical, and so is having an accurate, up-to-date picture of where fires have reached and how quickly they're expected to spread.
The traditional method of obtaining this information (as anyone who's played the excellent 2016 video game Firewatch will know) is to position lookouts in watchtowers, with a wide view of the surrounding countryside and radios to alert firefighters of potential fires. In the article, chief sergeant Guillaume Millet explains that cameras with AI video analysis have replaced all these lookouts in France's Gironde department. These cameras give fewer false alarms and work at longer range than a human lookout can manage.
On the other hand, Millet also notes that while AI is very helpful for fire detection, it can't put out fires; indeed, while aircraft do have a role, the main work of firefighting can still only be performed by putting boots on the ground. That's because the volumes of water required are so huge that even crewed aeroplanes can only contribute so much, let alone autonomous drones.
While that's certainly a limitation, it's heartening to see an instance where seemingly the right place has been found for AI within a complex process. AI cameras have been implemented where they can provide the most assistance and seem to genuinely improve on human performance (fire detection), without impeding on the part that requires the work of courageous humans (firefighting). That cooperation and complementarity is a fine example for every emerging AI application.
"The big change, especially in my département, is that now we've got cameras assisted by artificial intelligence to watch the forest and see where fires are starting... In the Gironde, cameras have replaced the human look-outs we had in watch towers in every town throughout the summer months"
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