AI and Machine Learning Identify Hazardous Buildings in Baltimore

Jennifer MonahanMonday, February 13, 2023

CMU's Data Science for Social Good Summer Fellowship partnered with Baltimore's Department of Housing and Community Development to improve how roof damage in the city is identified and remediated.

The Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) Summer Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) partnered with Baltimore's Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to improve community safety and economic well-being by remediating buildings in the city with roof damage.

Using aerial images of the entire city, housing inspection notes and other information provided by the city, the DSSG team developed an AI system that uses machine learning to assign a roof damage score to each address and prioritize structures with the most significant damage. This prioritized list allows city inspectors to more efficiently and equitably focus their efforts on buildings with actual damage in areas most impacted by this problem.

The Baltimore roof initiative, which recently garnered an innovation award for its impact, is just one example of how the DSSG and CMU are improving communities locally, nationally and internationally.

Rayid Ghani, the Distinguished Career Professor in the School of Computer Science's Machine Learning Department and CMU's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, created the DSSG in 2013 at the University of Chicago to help the government and nonprofits use data and evidence to solve societal problems. When he returned to CMU in 2019, Ghani brought the DSSG initiative with him. DSSG fellows spend 12 weeks working with nonprofits and government agencies to focus on projects that are problem-driven and involve collaboration with project partners and community members. The most important component is using the lens of ethics to approach every issue. Teams comprise individuals from different backgrounds, including computer science, ML, AI, statistics, math, economics, public policy, sociology, psychology, engineering and physical sciences.

For more details, read the full story on the Carnegie Mellon News website.

For More Information

Aaron Aupperlee | 412-268-9068 | aaupperlee@cmu.edu