Tuesday, October 24, 2017

How AI Could Help People Dodge Monster Storms

Authorities knew Hurricane Harvey was heading to south Texas, but forecasters couldn’t say precisely which areas would be hardest hit. So, most Houstonians stayed put. The consequences: more than 75 deaths, 30,000 people in shelters and tens of thousands who needed rescuing. And Harvey was just the start. Irma, Jose, Maria, Nate and Ophelia — with more than five weeks to go, the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season has already been one of the worst on record. The year is the first since 1893 to see 10 storms in a row reach hurricane strength, and only the fourth in recorded hurricane history. Without knowing where the brunt of a powerful storm will strike, officials are often puzzled about where and when to evacuate. Halfway around the world, a team of scientists in Korea is using GPU-accelerated deep learning to help keep people out of harm’s way.