Things like generating podcasts and videos are fine, but we have long hoped that a new grasp of artificial intelligence might spur more genuinely useful improvements that humanity could benefit from.

Thankfully, we have had an example of that with the detection of 160,000 new viruses, but Google's new boast could make a difference to almost everyone.

The giant's DeepMind division, which is focused on pushing the boundaries of AI development, published a blog post explaining how its new GenCast model can predict weather and extreme events more accurately than leading tools.

In fact, it can provide “faster and more accurate forecasts up to 15 days ahead.”

The current leader in weather forecasting, ENS, is maintained by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF-they really need better branding), but in tests, Google's new GenCast model performed up to 20% faster.

This is not expected to replace current weather forecasting technology, but to complement it in the near future, but will probably be most useful in more extreme situations. [According to Google, it helped predict hazards like heat and cold waves and outperformed ENS in predicting the paths of hurricanes and cyclones.