Cal Poly Project Leverages Artificial Intelligence Deep Learning to Aid Wildfire Recovery

SAN LUIS OBISPO –– A pair of Cal Poly professors and a team of students have used artificial intelligence to train a computer to quickly assess wildfire damage -- potentially improving response time for efforts to recover from major wildfires. Accurate and timely damage assessment has become critical for response and recovery as the threat of wildfires increases. Damage assessment reports inform first responders' strategies, affect residents' ability to file insurance claims, and guide state and federal authorities' plans for future disaster relief and financial aid. To date, most wildfire event inspectors must personally visit affected areas and manually document the severity of building damage, a process that often takes weeks. Social sciences Assistant Professor Andrew Fricker, computer science Assistant Professor Jonathan Ventura, visiting Cal Poly undergraduate student Gustave Rousselet, and a team of Stanford doctoral students sought to streamline this process with artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning.