Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming part of everyday life - from recruitment, to personalising social media feeds, to paving the way for medical breakthroughs.
Northumberland County Council is testing how AI can support "faster and better" planning decisions related to flood risk, in hopes of rolling out its findings across the country.
While planning officers review applications as normal, AI will be used in parallel this year to see if it finds issues faster, or if it could help make writing applications easier.
The council said it was a "really exciting" project, but stressed: "Every decision will continue to be overseen by human experts."
Developers hoping to build on a site need to submit an application, including a flood risk assessment, to the local council.
