This new tool uses the same technology as deepfakes to create “fake” weather predictions, which are more accurate than any other method to date.
DeepMind, the AI company behind revolutionary protein structure-predicting tool, AlphaFold, has set its eyes on another difficult science problem: weather forecasting. While longer-term forecasting has been pretty much perfected through the use of large-scale computer simulations, short-term forecasting — such as what the weather will look like an hour from now — still poses a challenge for meteorologists. In collaboration with the U.K. Met Office, DeepMind has developed a new AI tool, DGMR (“deep generative model of rainfall”), which uses the same approach as deepfake technology to address this challenge.
Deepfake is a combination of the words “deep learning” and “fake,” and refers to images or videos in which a person’s face is replaced with a very convincing replica of someone else’s. The AI behind this is trained to take existing facial patterns from images or videos and recreate them in a new context, whether that’s replacing one actor with another or making the Mona Lisa laugh. The applications of this technology are controversial and can range from lighthearted internet memes to the spreading of disinformation through impersonation.
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