“AI tools are only as good as the data we can put into them,” said geography expert Craig Ramseyer. AI can then use those data to identify patterns and forecast impending drought,” Ramseyer said. Detecting the weather patterns that lead to drought makes advance irrigation and conservation planning possible, and AI can assist with that. AI can complement traditional weather forecasting. “Right now, AI models are used alongside our traditional physics-based, mathematical weather models because AI models generally have higher error predicting our most extreme events,” Ramseyer said.