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In this episode of the Climate Confident podcast, I’m joined by Angel Hsu, associate professor at UNC Chapel Hill and founder of the Data-Driven EnviroLab. We dive deep into how AI can be used to combat climate misinformation and bring real accountability to climate pledges.

Angel and her team have built two domain-specific AI tools, ChatNetZero and ChatNDC, designed to help policymakers, researchers, and business leaders navigate the chaos of climate targets, national climate plans, and net zero claims. Unlike generic chatbots, which often hallucinate facts or pull from questionable sources, these tools are trained on verified, climate-specific datasets and come with built-in safeguards against misinformation.

We also unpack why generic AI tools like ChatGPT fall short in this space, how climate policy is lagging behind AI innovation, and what it’ll take to close that gap. Angel shares insights from her work with the Net Zero Tracker, the IPCC, and her current NSF-backed initiative to boost AI integrity in climate mitigation.

If you’re in policy, sustainability, or just trying to make sense of what’s greenwashing and what’s not, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

Listen now to learn:

• Why domain-specific AI beats generic models in climate accuracy
• How ChatNetZero flags weak net zero targets
• What policymakers can do today to use AI responsibly
• Why transparency in data, and in AI, is non-negotiable

For more, about Angel, and her team's work, visit https://datadrivenlab.org/

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Credits
Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper