紐時賞析／加州消防廳 訓練人工智慧偵測野火

Firefighters in California Are Working With A.I. To Spot and Stop Fires

加州消防廳 訓練人工智慧偵測野火

For years, firefighters in California have relied on a vast network of more than 1,000 mountaintop cameras to detect wildfires. Operators have stared into computer screens around the clock looking for wisps of smoke.

多年來，加州消防隊要偵測野火，仰賴的是由超過一千個山頂攝影機組成的廣大網路。操作員得無時無刻盯著電腦螢幕，尋找縷縷煙霧。

This summer, with wildfire season well underway, California’s main firefighting agency is trying a new approach: training an artificial intelligence program to do the work.

今年夏天，隨著野火季即將到來，加州主要消防單位正進行一項新嘗試：訓練人工智慧來做這項工作。

The idea is to harness one of the state’s great strengths — expertise in AI — and deploy it to prevent small fires from becoming the kinds of conflagrations that have killed scores of residents and destroyed thousands of homes in California over the past decade.

他們的想法是，運用並部署人工智慧技術這項加州的優勢，防止小火災演變成過去十年內奪走數十名加州居民性命、摧毀數千棟房屋的那種大火。

Officials involved in the pilot program say they are happy with early results. Around 40% of the time, the AI software was able to alert firefighters of the presence of smoke before dispatch centers received 911 calls.

參與試用計畫的官員表示，他們對初步成果感到滿意。大約40%情況下，人工智慧軟體能在調度中心接獲911通報前警告消防隊有煙霧出現。

“It has absolutely improved response times,” said Phillip SeLegue, the staff chief of intelligence for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the state’s main firefighting agency better known as Cal Fire. In about two dozen cases, SeLegue said, the AI identified fires that the agency never received 911 calls for. The fires were extinguished when they were still small and manageable.

加州主要消防單位、常被稱作「加火」的加州森林防火廳情資部門負責人賽勒格說：「它絕對改善了反應時間。」賽勒格表示，在20多個案例中，人工智慧辨識出該單位從未接獲911通報的火災。當火勢還很小可以控制時，野火就被撲滅了。

After an exceptionally wet winter, California’s fire season has not been as destructive — so far — as in previous years.

加州剛度過一個格外潮濕的冬天，截至目前為止，今年野火季並未像往年那樣具破壞性。

Cal Fire counts 4,792 wildfires so far this year, lower than the five-year average of 5,422 for this time of year. Perhaps more important, the number of acres burned this year has been only one-fifth of the five-year average of 812,068 acres.

加州森林防火廳統計，今年已發生4792起野火，比過去5年來相同時段的平均值5422起還低。更重要的或許是，今年焚燒面積只有過去5年平均值812068英畝的五分之一。

The AI pilot program, which began in late June and covered six of Cal Fire’s command centers, will be rolled out to all 21 command centers starting in September.

加州森林防火廳6個指揮中心6月底引進這套人工智慧試用軟體，預計9月起全部21個指揮中心都會採用。

But the program’s apparent success comes with caveats. The system can detect fires only visible to the cameras. And at this stage, humans are still needed to make sure the AI program is properly identifying smoke.

軟體的成效雖顯著，但也伴隨一些限制。該系統只能偵測攝影鏡頭可見的火災。且在目前階段，人員仍需在旁確認人工智慧軟體有正確辨識煙霧。

Cal Fire’s mission is to suppress 95% of all fires when they are 10 acres or less. The AI program will help the agency meet that goal, said Neal Driscoll, a geophysicist at the University of California, San Diego, and a leader of the AI project.

加州森林防火廳的任務，是在95%野火火勢延燒少於10英畝時就將其撲滅。聖地牙哥加州大學地球物理學家、這項人工智慧計畫負責人之一迪里斯可表示，人工智慧將協助加州森林防火廳達成目標。

“The success of this project will be the fires you will never hear about,” he said.

他說：「那些你從未聽聞的火災，將是這項計畫的成功之處。」

文／Thomas Fuller　譯／陳曉慈