When is the next food crisis? Artificial Intelligence could know the answer

There has been a boom in artificial intelligence recently, and researchers are using that technology to better understand global food insecurity.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science used AI to extract data from more than 11 million news articles focused on countries facing food insecurity, going all the way back to the 1980s. They found traditional food security models rely on risk measures that are often outdated or incomplete.

The study showed between 2009 and 2020, news indicators substantially improved the predictions of food insecurity. They say this research could have profound impacts on how humanitarian aid gets allocated in order to prevent a looming food crisis.