AI system
- System
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AI drone-image analysis software used by CNSAS Piemonte (identified as ADIAT by its developer, TEXSAR; CAI and CNSAS sources do not name it)
- Model
-
Not assessed
- Release
-
Not assessed
- Application developer
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TEXSAR (Texas Search and Rescue) volunteers, per the developer's own account
- Role
-
Not assessed
- Configuration
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Not assessed
- Inputs and outputs
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Not assessed
- Autonomy
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Not assessed
- Workflow
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Close-range high-resolution drone photography of steep faces (about 2,600 frames over 183 hectares). A target object (red helmet) with strong color contrast against rock and ice. Search area narrowed by mobile-phone cell data to the Monviso and Visolotto faces.
- Human oversight
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Not assessed
- Relation to AI
-
The AI flagged a few red pixels, the helmet, a detail CAI describes as invisible to the naked eye. Ten months of helicopters, specialist teams and advanced technology (Quadricottero) had not resolved the search. Drone pilot Saverio Isola is quoted that it was the AI software that identified the differently colored pixels. CAI/CNSAS sources do not name the software. The ADIAT attribution comes from the developer TEXSAR's own page. So the tool identity rests on a vendor-authored source.
- AI contribution
-
The AI flagged a few red pixels, the helmet, a detail CAI describes as invisible to the naked eye. Ten months of helicopters, specialist teams and advanced technology (Quadricottero) had not resolved the search. Drone pilot Saverio Isola is quoted that it was the AI software that identified the differently colored pixels. CAI/CNSAS sources do not name the software. The ADIAT attribution comes from the developer TEXSAR's own page. So the tool identity rests on a vendor-authored source.
Benefits
- Outcome identifiers
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Not assessed
- Benefit
-
located at about 3,150 m and recovered by 31 July 2025
- Category
-
Reduced Task Time
- Status
-
Not assessed
- Beneficiary groups
-
People. Organizations.
- Beneficiaries
-
Not assessed
- Reach
-
Not assessed
- Distribution and access
-
Not assessed
- Duration
-
Not assessed
- Expected?
-
Yes
- Costs and harms
-
Not assessed
Measurement
- Studies
-
Not assessed
- Study design
-
Not assessed
- Measurement
-
Not assessed
- Setting and sample
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Not assessed
- Measures
-
located at about 3,150 m and recovered by 31 July 2025
- Comparison
-
conventional ground and air searches over the preceding months
- Results
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Reference: I metodi di ricerca convenzionali sono rimasti inconcludenti per mesi. Result: meno di 72 ore dalla prima missione del drone al recupero del corpo.
- Additional value from AI
-
Not assessed
- Limitations
-
Not assessed
- Denominators
-
Not assessed
- Materials for replication
-
Not assessed
Money
- Kind of value
-
Not assessed
- Amount
-
Not assessed
- Currency and prices
-
Not assessed
- Period and unit
-
Not assessed
- Realization
-
Not assessed
- Recipients and payers
-
Not assessed
- Gross or net
-
Not assessed
- Included costs
-
Not assessed
- Comparison
-
Not assessed
- Method
-
Not assessed
- Return and payback
-
Not assessed
People and places
- Participants
-
Developer: TEXSAR (Texas Search and Rescue) volunteers, per the developer's own account. Operator: Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico Piemontese (CNSAS Piemonte), Turin station drone team.
- Jurisdictions
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Benefit: Monviso north face, Perotti couloir (province of Cuneo),
Italy. Developer: 
United States. Operator: Italy. - Ownership and control
-
Not assessed
- Dependencies
-
Not assessed
- Cross-border connections
-
Not assessed
- Geopolitical implications
-
Not assessed
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
-
Weather and terrain allow drones to fly close to the walls. The subject or equipment remains visible and not buried by snow. Rescuers verify AI flags, which CNSAS notes can also fire on plastic or unusual rock color.
- Replication attempts
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Not assessed
- Later findings
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18 January 2026. By January 2026 the CNSAS Piemonte drone lead was working with Politecnico di Torino's geomatics team on a successor tool that adds precise georeferenced coordinates to the color-anomaly detection.
- Availability
-
Not assessed
- Institutional decision
-
Not assessed
- Grounds
-
Not assessed
- Action and result
-
Not assessed
- Success criterion
-
Not assessed
Evidence
- Source numbers
-
AIBD-0033-source-0001–0015
- Citations
-
Numbered references below.
- Language
-
Not assessed
- Source relationships
-
Operator, Independent, Developer
- Original evidence
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Not assessed
- Access and versions
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Not assessed
- Supported findings
-
Not assessed
- Evidence links
-
Not assessed
- Evidence strength
-
Not assessed
- Missing evidence
-
Not assessed
Grades
- Assessed benefits
-
People. Organizations.
- Depth
-
People: 2. Organizations: 2.
- Reasons
-
People: Ivaldo's family obtained recovery of his body and certainty about his fate after ten months of searching. A material benefit, not life-saving, since he had died in September 2024. Organizations: CNSAS Piemonte ended a search that had involved ground teams, Guardia di Finanza and fire-service helicopters for ten months. Manual analysis of the drone photos would have taken weeks (CAI) to months (CNSAS, per bluewin).
- Observed or intended
-
Not assessed
- Rubric
-
Not assessed
- Assessor and date
-
Not assessed
- Alternative assessments
-
Not assessed
- Fill
-
Independently reported
Entry details
- Kind
-
Not assessed
- Related entries
-
Not assessed
- Field
-
Mountain search and rescue. Recovery of a missing person in high-alpine terrain.
- Purpose
-
ADIAT was built to scan drone photographs and flag color and shape anomalies for search-and-rescue teams. Locating the missing man's helmet was that intended function.
- Dates
-
Date basis unassessed: 2025 (precision unassessed). Updated: 21 October 2026.
- Stage
-
Not assessed
- Version
-
SHA-256: 104bc06c9ff3…
References
- Other identifiers
-
oecd_aim: 2026-01-10-f4af.
- Category mappings
-
Not assessed
- Brief
-
Not assessed
- Revisions
-
8 revisions. Latest: 21 October 2026.
Sources
-
News report Independent author
Scarato D (2025). Droni e IA trovano il corpo del medico alpinista disperso da mesi sul Monviso. Quadricottero News, 1 August 2025 (photo credited to Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico Piemonte - CNSAS).
Il ritrovamento, avvenuto a circa 3150 metri di quota sulla parete nord della montagna, nel canale Perotti, è stato possibile grazie a un impiego mirato di droni professionali
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News report Independent author
bluewin.ch (2025). Sulle Alpi Italiane: Ecco com'è stato possibile localizzare un escursionista scomparso da un anno. 10 August 2025 (updated 12 August 2025).
Sono stati questi pixel a cambiare tutto
-
News report Independent author
Simičević, V. (2026). A red pixel in the snow: How AI solved the mystery of a missing mountaineer. BBC Future.
Three days after the search resumed, however, the body of the missing doctor was found at one of the sites identified by the AI, lying in a gully
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News report Independent author
La Stampa (2025). Trovato il corpo del medico di Albenga disperso dal 15 settembre sul Monviso. La Stampa, Cuneo.
realizzati 2600 fotogrammi che sono stati caricati su un apposito software, in dotazione al Soccorso alpino e speleologico, che ha elaborato i dati indicando tre possibili target da verificare
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News report Independent author
la salma del medico ligure di 64 anni Nicola Ivaldo è stata trovata nella mattinata di giovedì 31 luglio, a distanza di oltre dieci mesi dalla sua scomparsa
-
News report Independent author
Abo Abia, M. (2025). Ritrovato il corpo di Nicola Ivaldo, disperso sul Monviso dal settembre 2024. RaiNews, TGR Piemonte.
Il programma, analizzando video e foto, ha individuato tre aree sensibili: zone con dettagli non naturali e incompatibili con l'ambiente circostante
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News report Independent author
il drone, penetrando nel canale Perotti, ha individuato i resti di un essere umano nel canale più a destra dei tre che solcano la parete nord
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News report Independent author
Rullo, F. (2025). Monviso, ritrovato dopo un anno e solo grazie ai droni il corpo di Nicola Ivaldo, medico savonese scomparso in montagna. Corriere della Sera, Torino.
ritrovati grazie all'uso di droni e a un apposito software in dotazione al soccorso alpino: erano in un canale a 3150 metri di quota
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News report Independent author
Annapurna, K. (2025). AI Solves the Mystery of Missing Italian Climber. ExplorersWeb.
an AI software analyzed these many images in a single afternoon, singling out a cluster of red pixels that turned out to be Ivaldo's helmet
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News report Independent author
Malfatti, M. (2025). Anche l'intelligenza artificiale al servizio del Soccorso Alpino. Montagna.TV.
l'analisi automatica e dettagliata di migliaia di fotogrammi ha permesso di isolare potenziali target in un'area decisamente vasta ed impervia
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News report Independent author
presumibilmente è partito a piedi nella giornata di sabato dal parcheggio della diga di Pontechianale, nel cuneese, dove è ancora presente la sua auto
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Press release Deployer
Lo Scarpone, Club Alpino Italiano (2026). Sulla BBC il 'caso Ivaldo': l'Intelligenza Artificiale a supporto del Soccorso Alpino. 18 January 2026 (CAI is the parent body of CNSAS).
Due droni sono stati impiegati per voli ravvicinati alle pareti del Monviso, e in 5 ore sono stati raccolti circa 2.600 fotogrammi ad alta risoluzione.
-
Press release Developer
Texas Search and Rescue (2025). ADIAT Helps Italian SAR Team. TEXSAR website, 15 August 2025 (developer of ADIAT).
It was the AI software that identified some pixels of a different color in the images taken on Tuesday.
-
Press release Deployer
Lo Scarpone (2025). Monviso, ritrovato il corpo del medico disperso da settembre 2024. Club Alpino Italiano.
raccolto circa 2600 fotogrammi ad alta risoluzione, poi analizzati tramite un software in dotazione al Soccorso Alpino che ha indicato tre possibili punti di interesse tramite analisi pixel-per-pixel
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Other Independent author
OECD.AI (2026). AI-Assisted Drone Search Locates Missing Mountaineer in Italian Alps. OECD AI Incidents and Hazards Monitor.
AI software analyzing drone images identified the body of missing Italian mountaineer Nicola Ivaldo in the Piedmont Alps