USGS: New AI Tool Forecasts Drought 90 Days Ahead Nationwide. “The USGS River DroughtCast uses machine learning models trained on data from thousands of USGS streamgages, some with more than 100 years of continuous records, to forecast when rivers and streams will drop to abnormally low levels.”

BBC: Ground truth: When the Earth moves, AI can spot it. “In the US, landslides kill 25-50 people each year and cause billions of dollars in damage. Worldwide, they claim thousands of lives annually. Predicting when and where they will happen is incredibly difficult. But developments in AI are making it possible, helping geologists identify thousands of slopes around the world that are at high […]

Santa Barbara Independent: Chasing the Superbloom: New Map Helps Campers Time Wildflower Trips. “The California Superbloom Forecast pulls from roughly five years of research-grade observations submitted through the community science platform iNaturalist. By analyzing more than 150,000 entries, Hipcamp’s team created a map intended to guide visitors toward bloom-rich areas while also […]

Northeastern University: New data tool boosts preparedness for potentially deadly flooding. “A new tool spearheaded by Northeastern University interfaces with NOAA’s National Water Model to deliver historic and forecasted flood data to community members involved in flood and emergency preparedness.”

University of Michigan: Say what’s on your mind, and AI can tell what kind of person you are. “A new University of Michigan study found that widely available generative AI models (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, LLaMa) can predict personality, key behaviors and daily emotions as or even more accurately than those closest to you.”

We're pleased to welcome Dr Kim Leontiev, joining us as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Ethics of Predictive Technologies.

#Ethics #PracticalEthics #PhilosophyMatters #PredictiveTechnology

University of Waterloo: Predicting disease outbreaks using social media. “Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a new approach that could help public health officials predict where outbreaks might occur. By analyzing social media posts, the method identifies early signs of increasing vaccine skepticism — a warning signal that could emerge before any disease begins to spread.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/21/university-of-waterloo-predicting-disease-outbreaks-using-social-media/

Ars Technica: Google’s new hurricane model was breathtakingly good this season. “Although Google DeepMind’s Weather Lab only started releasing cyclone track forecasts in June, the company’s AI forecasting service performed exceptionally well. By contrast, the Global Forecast System model, which is operated by the US National Weather Service, is based on traditional physics, and runs on […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/05/ars-technica-googles-new-hurricane-model-was-breathtakingly-good-this-season/

Northeastern University: Machine learning can help mental health patients get better outcomes, research shows. “Northeastern University assistant professor of applied psychology Joshua Curtiss led a study, recently published in the Clinical Psychology Review, in which researchers conducted a large meta-analysis of studies from other journals that used machine learning to predict treatment […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/09/19/northeastern-university-machine-learning-can-help-mental-health-patients-get-better-outcomes-research-shows/

NOAA Research: An experimental NOAA tool that predicts hourly wildfire hazards across the U.S.. “[Hourly Wildfire Potential Index] provides an assessment of wildfire potential updated every hour based on model-predicted weather conditions. The frequent updates allow HWP to forecast sudden increases or decreases in potential fire activity due to changing weather conditions, providing more […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/08/31/noaa-research-an-experimental-noaa-tool-that-predicts-hourly-wildfire-hazards-across-the-u-s/