Generative AI Aiding Quake Relief in Kumamoto

Kumamoto, Aug. 8 (Jiji Press)--Generative artificial intelligence is increasingly utilized to assist relief efforts in the wake of a powerful earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, late last month.

Meanwhile, AI is believed to have been used to create fake videos that were spread on social media, highlighting both the advantages and drawbacks of the technology.

Misato Kaetsu, 38, who experienced the quake in the Kumamoto town of Mifune, used generative AI with her smartphone at an evacuation center to which she fled with her family to create an online information board.

Those affected by the 7.1-magnitude quake, which registered up to 7, the highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale, can use the site to share local information, such as the locations of reopened stores and emergency feeding stations. The service was launched just hours after the idea was conceived.

"I decided to develop (the service) because information has not to reach those who need it," Kaetsu said. "AI could not be used when powerful earthquakes struck Kumamoto 10 years ago, but ideas can now be easily turned into reality," she said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]