3 Ways AI is Helping to Improve Science
With a recent surge in AI technology there are a suite of tools that can be used to improve the way that we do things. From streamlining delivery systems, to crypto bot trading, making complex predictions in medicine and even aiding in space exploration, AI continues to improve and expand to new horizons.
Like anything, AI has its pros and cons. There are a wide range of issues that come with AI technology and many ethical dilemmas that need to be explored, especially when looking at AI’s use in art, but there are a lot of good things that AI is doing as well. For example, AI is being used to improve research and development in many areas – which helps expand our understanding of the world around us and our quality of life.
So, what is AI and how is it being used in science today?
What is AI?
AI stands for artificial intelligence, which means a machine that has been programmed to think and learn – mimicking human intelligence. AI is able to improve on itself as it takes in more information (learning) and is able to come to conclusions based on a lot of information. AI can be really useful to help us process a lot of information that might otherwise take a person much longer.
One of the key elements to AI is machine learning (ML) – where computers can learn from new information and use it to improve and also make decisions based on this information. Ai can also include natural language processing (NPL) to understand and respond to language and computer vision, which allows it to interpret and make decisions based on visuals. Additionally, AI can program robots to carry out certain tasks.
As you could imagine, each of these elements can be extremely useful when it comes to advancing research.
3 Ways AI Can Benefit Research
There are many ways that AI is being used to help advance scientific research, but here are 3 examples that we found interesting!
Camera Trapping
Camera trapping is extremely useful in ecology research to understand populations and the movement of organisms, as well as inter and intra species interactions, and even to capture evidence of rare species. However, processing images taken on camera traps is extremely tedious and time consuming for researchers, this is where AI can save the day.
There are AI programs that help to sort images into folders based on what animals are found on the image so that researchers can more quickly discard those that are not pertinent to their investigation and get to the important ones. These programs get better all the time at identifying animals based on feedback given by the people reviewing them, and ultimately save hundreds to thousands of man hours.
AI for Predictive Modeling
Modeling is a key scientific tool in everything from studying evolution, climate, natural disasters, medicine, and more! Models are built using a lot of information and by selecting key variables that will help to generate some income. Furthermore, predictive models can make predictions about the future based on past information and current trends. When applied in medicine and disaster science, these predictions can help save lives!
You see, machine learning can help computers to take in huge amounts of information and come up with the best predictions based on past events, anticipated changes, and key variables. This can be crucial to things like medical prognosis of disease and predicting location and severity of natural disasters. As AI models get better, we can make faster and more accurate predictions that can ultimately make the difference between life and death!
AI in Space Research
There is a lot of unknown when it comes to space, and AI can help us to make faster advancements in space research. Some examples of AI used in space research are: satellites that help us find plastic pollution in the ocean, AI that helps sort images of far off galaxies (just like for the camera trapping example), satellites that better avoid collisions, and even self-navigating equipment that could navigate itself in far-off unknown environments that may still be outside of our reach otherwise!
Surely, the next few years will see many more integrations of AI into space research, helping us understand even more about our galaxy, and far beyond.
Final Thoughts
AI has its pros and cons but overall it can be an extremely useful tool to help us advance science. Therefore, Artificial intelligence tools should continue to be part of our investment in the future. AI can be used for a huge range of tasks and it has proven very useful for research in ecology, meteorology, medicine, space exploration, and more! It will be very interesting to see what further advancements AI can help us achieve.
