Episode 284: What It Takes to Trust AI in Real-World Seismic Applications
“Deep learning is ubiquitous in data processing. The question is whether we have the courage to change the way we work.”
Yangkang Chen discusses how deep learning has moved from experimentation to production in seismic processing and earthquake monitoring. Drawing on a decade-long effort to build an operational AI-driven monitoring system, he explains why tasks like first-arrival picking, velocity analysis, denoising, and reconstruction are especially well-suited for deep learning. Yangkang emphasizes that success depends not just on algorithms, but on benchmarks, stability, teamwork, and trust. He also highlights how open and reproducible research lowers barriers for adoption and helps geophysicists apply AI confidently in real workflows.
Yangkang Chen discusses how deep learning has moved from experimentation to production in seismic processing and earthquake monitoring. Drawing on a decade-long effort to build an operational AI-driven monitoring system, he explains why tasks like first-arrival picking, velocity analysis, denoising, and reconstruction are especially well-suited for deep learning. Yangkang emphasizes that success depends not just on algorithms, but on benchmarks, stability, teamwork, and trust. He also highlights how open and reproducible research lowers barriers for adoption and helps geophysicists apply AI confidently in real workflows.