By Kana McNiff
Since its creation, artificial intelligence, or AI has been a topic of great skepticism in the public eye. Is AI a technology that will advance our society? Or one that will lead to its demise? According to IBM, one of the world’s leading IT companies, AI is, “technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities.” As AI technology advances, we are finding more and more uses for it in our daily lives. AI’s ability to quickly process information and solve complex problems makes it a valuable tool in many different fields. Recently, AI has begun to be applied to environmental science technology, which could have a great impact on how we live our lives.
Natural Disaster Prevention and Improved Weather Forecasting
For one, AI can be used to make more accurate weather forecasts, which can be applied to natural disaster prediction and prevention. AI can gather information from weather sensors and satellites to detect signs of natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, and forest fires. In the case of hurricanes, AI algorithms can analyze atmospheric data to predict the path of the hurricane and its intensity. AI also helps us to better understand and predict earthquakes. It uses data from historical seismic patterns, ground movements, and slight changes in the Earth’s crust to forecast seismic activity. AI can even help us prevent forest fires, which have been a huge problem in California for the past few years. Drones equipped with AI technology can monitor forests and watch for any signs of a potential fire hazard, stopping the fires before they even happen. The AI-generated weather forecasts can also anticipate how rapid the spread of fire will be due to windy conditions and help firefighters better strategize.
AI Can Help Us Learn More About Marine Animals
Using AI-powered robots, we can now explore more of the ocean than we ever could before. While marine observations are usually conducted by human divers, a huge con of this is that a human presence in aquatic environments can be alarming to wildlife, making it difficult for us to study how they interact with their environments and other species. With the use of AI-driven robots, we can observe wildlife in their natural environments while maintaining a safe distance and monitoring their natural behavior. One example of these AI robots is the CUREE, which has been trained to identify jellyfish, fish, and other animals that live in coral reefs. The CUREE is easily able to track specific animals that the scientists operating it want to know more about.
While there are many benefits to using AI to assist us with environmental science efforts, one huge con is the amount of computing power and energy it takes to operate this technology. The production of the energy needed inevitably leads to the release of greenhouse gasses. David Rolnick, a computer scientist at McGill University, says about AI, “From the policy standpoint, both AI policy and climate policy have roles to play.” He recommends shaping AI policy in a way that considers all angles of its impact on the climate. While the future of this technology is widely unknown, hopefully scientists will find a solution to limit the amount of energy being used by AI.
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