Can Artificial Intelligence (AI) turn California’s summer of fear to one of hope?

While many people look forward to the summer months as a time to relax, here in California, we look to them with apprehension. Memories of apocalyptic scenes the past few summers, when smoke turned day into night in many areas of the state, are fresh in our minds.

California has already seen more than 12,000 acres burned by wildfires so far this year, significantly ahead of the pace set in 2020. In San Francisco, we don’t just see climate change in action — we smell it, we taste it and we feel it in our lungs. And we all share a growing sense of urgency as we look for lasting solutions.

Those who know me are probably tired of hearing me say that “there is no problem in the world that cannot be tackled by artificial intelligence (AI).” The climate crisis is no different. AI researchers and professionals all over the world are applying AI creatively to climate change. From using AI to nudge people toward better behaviors, to managing smart grids, to helping solve the physics of fusion reactors, AI is increasingly an essential part of the solution.

That’s why it’s exciting to see the 111-page report, assembled by researchers from many leading universities and research institutions, which enumerates opportunities for machine learning to impact climate change. The report serves as a powerful call to action to the scientific and technical community.

At Ernst & Young LLP, we are proud to join the broader effort to address climate change. That’s why I’m thrilled to see the amazing energy, enthusiasm and engagement generated by our Data Science Challenge, which we launched in collaboration with Microsoft and NASA, among others. The challenge is to predict wildfire boundaries and progression by using both aerial and satellite photographs.

Wildfires remain one of the most visible and urgent impacts of climate change in California and many other parts of the world, and it is tremendous to see AI applied to solving this problem. Even more, we found it rewarding to play a role in connecting this broad, energetic community of AI and data scientists to address the problems caused by climate change. Tapping the intellectual power of innovators serves as one of the key weapons for finding solutions as quickly as we need them.

In the meantime, I can only hope that we won’t see a repeat of last summer and that my friends and colleagues in the Bay Area won’t be evacuated or left homeless by California’s worsening wildfires.

The views expressed by the author are not necessarily those of Ernst & Young LLP or other members of the global EY organization.