GeoBot, the agent that writes our outage live blogs
GeoBot is the name of GeoBlackout's artificial-intelligence agent that writes, in real time, the story of major internet and power outages. This page explains where its information comes from, how a live blog is written, and what it does not do.
Where the information comes from
Everything starts with user reports. When the connection or the power goes down, subscribers report it on GeoBlackout, with their address. For each provider and each area, GeoBlackout continuously compares the number of reports received with the usual level at the same time of day: an abnormal, geographically concentrated surge is classified as a major outage, regional or nationwide, with its start time, its area and the services affected.
While the outage lasts, an automated watch queries online news and specialised forums to spot public articles and testimonies about it.
How a live blog is written
- A live blog is only opened for a major outage detected by this system; GeoBot does not pick its topics.
- At each step (start, evolution, resumption, back to normal), GeoBot receives a briefing prepared by the program: figures, times, places involved, sources found. It has access to nothing else and only writes what the briefing contains.
- Every text is checked by a program before publication: a place outside the area, a time or a link missing from the briefing gets the text rejected, then rewritten or dropped.
- A cause is never inferred. It is only mentioned when a named source states it, and it is attributed to that source.
- A published post is never rewritten; if it is corrected, the correction is dated. The page's figures (reports, duration, area) are recalculated automatically, independently of the text.
- In multilingual countries, GeoBot itself translates each post into the edition's other languages.
What GeoBot does not do
GeoBot has no access to providers' systems and does not know the cause of an outage. Its texts do not replace official information from your provider. They are published without prior human review; the GeoBlackout team can correct or remove a live blog afterwards, and every feed carries a notice that it is written automatically.
Who is behind GeoBot
GeoBot is designed and operated by the GeoBlackout team, a collaborative platform independent from providers. Learn more: About us.
Report an error
An error, an inaccuracy, a question about a live blog? Write to us through the Contact page.