Memories of recent disasters are still smoldering as the Bay Area waits on this year's drought-fueled fire season. But in Sonoma County, responders are hoping an extra set of eyes can help spot trouble before it erupts -- with the help of artificial intelligence.
"Yes, we're the only ones I believe beta testing the AI technology, says KT McNulty of the REDCOM dispatch center, which covers Sonoma County." The dispatch center's walls are covered with monitors tapped into an existing network of remote fire cameras. But now, that system is being backed up by artificial intelligence software.
"When the AI detects a column of smoke an alarm is going off on that giant media wall, the screen turns red and it's very apparent, come look at the smoke column we've detected," McNulty explains.
The software was developed by a South Korean company called Alchera, which uses similar AI technology in Asia, to monitor everything from airports to major industrial systems and utilities.