Microsoft is helping the government build AI disaster response tools

The Department of Energy is teaming up with Microsoft to build AI tools that will help prevent and manage natural disasters, the agency announced today. Together, they'll co-chair the "First Five Consortium," a group that will focus on using predictive technology in areas like anticipating wildfires, managing fire lines, assessing overall damage, as well as handling search and rescue. The group is named after the critical first five minutes of a natural disaster -- the better first responders are prepared early on, the better they can contain issues and potentially save people. According to the DOE, its Pacific Northwest lab is already building on a prototype deep learning model that can help first responders make disaster-related decisions in near real time. We're still waiting on specific details, but the agency says that the model was originally developed by the Department of Defense's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC).