1 October 2022, NIICE Commentary 8296
Trisha Chatterjee
Artificial Intelligence has over the years proved to mankind the various ways of using technology not just to simplify mathematical problems and symbolic methods but also how breakthrough research and deeper understanding of a cause is possible using AI as a tool. It performs high-volume tasks, gathers data at a deeper level, helps in achieving accuracy in algorithms, and adds intelligence to the existing set of data, thereby improving the quality and depth of knowledge useful for further human research. Every industry, in today’s age, has a high demand for the use of AI in gathering information, automation, learning, legal assistance, risk management, and notifications. Artificial Intelligence is needed because the increasing day-to-day tasks that we do can be made much easier by automating the routines through a computer system or device software. It helps save manpower for the organisation and increases productivity. Ever since its inception in the 1950s, AI has tried to enquire into the field to produce knowledge about the world by taking into consideration certain entities, facts, and situations that exist in the world, and the relationship between these properties, thereby, categorising it according to their values; to solve problems through the use of logical reasoning (deductive, inductive, or abductive) and deriving significant ideas and conclusions from the information gathered; to plan and achieve goals, capable of specifying a future state of the world, desirable and suited to solve existing problems, and so on. Progress in AI has unleashed new possibilities in various fields and every sector, be it financing, healthcare, professional services, manufacturing, etc., uses AI to achieve its set plans and objectives.
Given the many prospects of AI, it is equally considered useful if applied wisely towards environmental needs. When applied to the field of environment, AI has evolved as an important instrument with the potential to address several environmental issues such as energy emission reduction, monitoring deforestation, helping develop greener transport, and as well contributing towards biodiversity conservation. It has been considered that AI can be identified as means to tackle key priority issues such as Climate Change, Biodiversity and Conservation, Water security, Ocean health, Clean Air, and providing accurate weather readings and disaster management efforts. The use of AI can help with energy generation and increase the efficiency of using renewable energy. Sensors and monitors can help with collecting data, and monitoring and analysing optimal use of energy. It can help detect biodiversity changes and address the cause with suitable software that can detect and prevent changes on a massive scale. When combined with satellite imagery, it is useful in determining land use, vegetation, and fallouts of natural disasters, as well as detecting their changes. Various tech companies, meteorological companies, and insurance companies combine the use of AI with traditional models to determine risks and suggest risk management strategies for the purpose. A real-time AI-infused digital dashboard for the planet would enable the monitoring, modelling and management of environmental systems at a scale and speed never before possible – from tackling illegal deforestation, water extraction, fishing and poaching, to air pollution, natural disaster response and smart agriculture. This would lead to transparent digital earth.
As a novel initiative to address global environmental issues, Microsoft launched a USD 50 million project called the AI for Earth program in 2017 which aims to solve global environmental challenges by focusing on four key areas – climate, water, biodiversity conservation, and agriculture. It provides grants to institutions and creates partnerships for moving AI out of the labs and using it in the field for high-end research, innovation, and solutions to meet up with future environmental challenges. AI for Earth program provides grants to support projects that use AI as a tool to monitor, manage and model earth’s natural systems. There have been a total of 700 grants provided to projects with impact in over 80 countries. Another similar initiative by Microsoft is the FarmBeats, a program that has been ongoing since 2015 that enables data-driven farming and building unique solutions to solve farming problems by using low-cost sensors, drones, and machine learning algorithms. FarmBeats works on ways to improve agriculture using AI, edge computing, and IoT Technology and gives the farmers the tools they need to plant efficiently, getting higher outcomes using fewer resources. Other such projects include the Microsoft-supported Project Premonition and the SilviaTerra. Project Premonition aims to automate robots and drones to find, trap, and gene sequence mosquitoes to prevent the spread of diseases like Malaria, Zika, and Ebola. It tries to locate mosquitoes through the use of drones and uses robots to trap them and send them to labs where scientists can sequence their genes. It tries to provide data on the type of animals it has bitten and if any, pathogen exposure. SilviaTerra focuses on developing technologies for forestry professionals to conserve woodlands efficiently through the use of its AI for Earth grant. SilviaTerra’s software maps forestry trips more efficiently by improving routes and equipment for the scientists in the field.
Given the benefits of AI-powered simulations, it could be considered a useful tool in curbing environmental challenges and henceforth, providing strategies and suggestions to protect the environment from further damage. Also, the facility for centralization of data in one place is equally helpful for the scientists in search of all necessary information related to the programs and grants. The AI for Earth program has been considered a game-changer proving to be extremely beneficial for every sector that has a direct or an indirect impact on our environment.
To prevent illegal poaching, which has come to be recognised as a serious issue concerning the loss of biodiversity, the Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security (PAWS) was developed which used machine learning to predict potential poaching hotspots. After years of development, the Milind Tambe lab began launching the system at wildlife parks with effective plans to continue the improvement and refine the software, rolling out to more than 800 protected areas in more than 60 countries. Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART), a set of software and analysis tools developed in 2011 by the World Wildlife Fund and other conservation organisations, was put to use in these protected areas which also later collaborated with Tambe lab to implement PAWS in SMART sites. PAWS generate data that are useful for rangers patrolling on the ground which helps them to locate hotspots for illegal activities and be efficient with limited resources.
The most pressing issue of the century has been circling around climate change and its impact on the lives of every living organism. However, given the benefits of machine learning techniques, AI can be a suitable (alternative) solution to tackle such matters in question. Using machine learning, AI can find patterns in data to spot changes. With the cost and benefit analysis and much reluctance, AI is now providing solutions to big energy industries battling climate change. A new field of study has come up that analyses climate science using statistical methods, machine learning and data mining known as Climate Informatics. Although the expenses involved in the use of machines are quite a concern, however, given the possibility of managing climate issues quite easily and efficiently, AI has been put to use worldwide. Connected to the cause of climate change is the availability of safe drinking water in different parts of the world. An efficient framework was introduced by Intel, in 1998, to conserve water and aimed to restore 100 percent of global water use by 2025. Intel has been quite ambitious in funding collaborative projects to support local watersheds and restore water quantities sufficient to the water consumed on a daily basis.
Considering the UN Goal to achieve Sustainable Development by 2030, thorough speculation on the use and effectiveness of AI should be done in this regard. Extensive focus should be centred around organising programs that can contribute to the cause of sustainability while also engaging local community groups, non-profit organisations, and conservation organisations to address the water scarcity issue, climate change concerns and all those factors that are of a direct threat to biodiversity. Infrastructure set-up should be given priority and most importantly the willingness to better the future of living should be imbibed in the minds of the people who are directly vulnerable to the consequences. It is true that machine-powered products call for high consumption of energy resources that can be difficult to provide for at the very instance, but not unachievable completely. More research should be focused on the field of environment if a comprehensive solution has to be reached.
Trisha Chatterjee is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, the Bhawanipur Education Society College, India.
