Whether we realise it or not, we have been utilising applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in our everyday lives, be they in forms of search engines, social media, online shopping or GPS navigation.
Various sectors are also benefitting from AI advancement, from robotics being used in factories to data analytics being incorporated into business decision-making.
There are many other ways this frontier technology is being put into use, and, as the following real-world examples demonstrate, its impact can be immensely significant.
Strengthening Conservation
AI has been an important ally for researchers, environmentalists and government agencies when it comes to nature conservation.
In Bailiwick of Guernsey, for instance, environmental officials have been using the technology for the identification of its diverse bat species to understand how they use the islands, and in turn make evidence-based decisions on protecting their population.
Meanwhile, an AI-based surveillance system is being used in Tamil Nadu, India by the forest department and railway authorities to prevent elephant deaths in the state.
It follows a wildlife conservation initiative by the national railway ministry in December 2023, where a similar system called Gajraj is being deployed in elephant corridors across a number of states in the country to prevent accidents by alerting authorities of animal and human movements.
To monitor and assess the problem of overfishing due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, Global Fishing Watch – a non-profit organisation co-founded by Google, ocean conservation body Oceana and technology-based environmental group SkyTruth – are utilising highly complex AI software as well as satellite imagery to map movements of over 65,000 commercial fishing vessels worldwide.
AI application is also instrumental in a research project led by the University of Southampton, where thousands of acres of forest in South Africa is being explored in search of a female partner for the last know male Encephalartos woodii (E. woodii), described as the “world’s loneliest plant.”
It is part of efforts to prevent the ancient species from being extinct. As the only E. woodii was found in the aforementioned forest in 1895, all current members of the species are male clones, meaning it is unable to reproduce naturally.
Driving Towards Food Security
Given the rise in food insecurity, various technology including AI are being employed to tackle the challenge.
For example, many agricultural companies around the world are using ClimateAi, an AI-powered climate resilience platform that provides accurate and locally-tailored weather forecasts based on current and past data, as well as future projections, to guide them on when to plant and harvest crops.
Additionally, AI is being used to develop new crop varieties capable of withstanding extreme weather conditions. This is exemplified through a project called Artemis in Arusha, Tanzania, in which AI is assisting efforts to breed more resilient crops by accelerating the process of phenotyping or studying traits or characteristics of new crop varieties visually.
This process usually takes 10 years, according to project lead and agricultural scientist David Guerena, but the speed in which climate change is taking place meant “this time-frame is no longer viable.”
Thus, rather than relying on human observations, where data quality can be affected by fatigue, farmers involved in the project take photos of their crops via a smartphone app.
From there, the AI can analyse and generate valuable data promptly – data that the growers believe will enable them to find ways to shorten the breeding cycle of their crops to just a few years.
Enhancing Work Capability
For engineers working in the industrial sectors, instruction manuals are necessities for them to be able to troubleshoot problems concerning machinery or computer systems at the workplace.
Yet looking through them can be time consuming. Enter Aveva, a UK industrial software firm that has developed an AI system capable of reading and learning these manuals almost as if offering the expertise and practical know-how of senior engineers.
More crucially, this system, alongside other AI-powered solutions designed to make detailed manuals or user guides for organisations to begin with, are created to cope with the challenge of an ageing workforce and retiring professionals, especially in the manufacturing sector.
Therefore, such applications can serve as valuable tools for younger engineers, ensuring a smooth knowledge transfer from one generation of workers to the other, and catering to different learning preferences and personalities.
Reference:
BBC News. (2024, April 11). Guernsey bat calls analysed using AI. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-guernsey-68789051
BBC News. (2024, May 29). AI enlisted to find world’s loneliest plant a female partner. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce99v9z0529o
Bearne, S. (2024, June 12). “We are creating new crops five-times faster.” BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9xxjx7e2gjo
Dempsey, M. & Smale W. (2024, August 7). Could reading instruction manuals become a thing of the past? BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw9yzw4ywnpo
Prasanth, B. S. (2024, May 21). Tamil Nadu: These elephants are dying on rail tracks – can AI save them? BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-68988189
Woollacott, B. E. (2024, April 3). How AI is being used to prevent illegal fishing. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68564249
