How AI is being trialled in flood planning in Northumberland

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming a part of everyday life – from recruiting to personalizing social media feeds to pioneering medical breakthroughs.

Northumberland County Council is testing how AI can support “faster and better” planning decisions around flood risk, hoping to spread its findings across the country.

While planning officers review applications as usual, this year AI will be used in parallel to see whether it can find problems more quickly or whether it could make it easier to write applications.

The council said it was a “really exciting” project but stressed: “Every decision will continue to be monitored by human experts.”

Developers wanting to build on a site must submit an application to the council, including a flood risk assessment.

Planning officers then review it and check whether there has been any flooding from surface water, for example…