Whales may be huge, but sometimes they need help from software to prevent boats from accidentally hitting them.
How AI Rangers Help Protect Endangered Species in China
The Whale Safe project, recently installed in the San Francisco Bay Area, uses artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time data on how many whales are in an area to warn shipping companies to slow their boats in the presence of marine mammals. It’s part of a growing global movement to use AI to help protect endangered species.
“Artificial intelligence is particularly useful for protecting animals because it can reveal patterns in nature to humans that would otherwise go unnoticed,” Adam Porter, a computer science professor at the University of Maryland, told Lifewire via email. “AI can crunch through vast amounts of data and find correlations, for example between pollutants and animal behavior, [and] allow for interpretation, enable predictions, and provide valuable insights to researchers.
"These direct insights can help people and organizations determine the best way to protect animal habitats, and base their decision-making on reliable data."
