In Bangladesh, Google AI helps deliver cash before floods

This article was originally published in Rest of World, which covers technology’s impact outside the West.

Farmers on Jamira, a tiny island on Bangladesh’s flood-prone Jamuna River, are used to warring with the river that’s eating their land.

Next year, they’ll have one more weapon in their arsenal: cash payments from the international nonprofit GiveDirectly delivered days before a flood hits. The group uses Google’s artificial intelligence-based flood forecasting to identify at-risk villagers.

This flips the traditional humanitarian model – where aid is delivered to entire regions after a flood – on its head. GiveDirectly offers support before disaster strikes, using AI to pinpoint the villages likely to be affected.

“Our goal is to test whether timely support in the form of unconditional cash transfers enables families to act on early warnings and reduce the impact of flooding,” Abir Ahmed Chowdhury, the country director of GiveDirectly in Bangladesh, told Rest of World. Unconditional cash transfers means the farmers are free to use it how they want, without restrictions.

Humanitarian groups delivered over $1 billion in unrestricted cash to people in need in 2024, according to the United Nations. Finding the best ways to deliver the money has been an area of keen research.

Studies show that cash transfers to farmers can increase investment in livestock...

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