Harnessing AI and Goats: California's Innovative Approach to Preventing Wildfires

California's main firefighting agency, Cal Fire, is training an artificial intelligence (AI) program to detect wildfires using a network of mountaintop cameras. The AI software has shown promising results, alerting firefighters to the presence of smoke before 911 calls were received in 40% of cases. However, the system can only detect fires visible to the cameras, and human intervention is still required to ensure accurate identification of smoke. Engineers and firefighters are working together to train the AI program to distinguish between real fires and false positives. The program will be rolled out to all 21 Cal Fire command centers in September.