Montreal's AI-powered Insectarium unveils new species, climate insights
Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), researchers at the Montreal Insectarium are embarking on a dual mission: unveiling new insect species and shedding light on the impact of climate change, as reported by Global News.
Overcoming the immense challenge of identifying their vast insect collection, comprising over 3,000 insects and 1,500 butterflies, sparked a novel approach.
"We envisioned applying AI for real-time monitoring of moth diversity in nature through photographs," declared Maxim Larrivée, the Insectarium's director, quoted by Global News.
This vision materialised through a collaboration with David Rolnick's AI research team, culminating in the development of a photo-identification app and subsequently, the Automated Monitoring of Insects (AMI) system. This automated camera, equipped with a mini-computer, autonomously identifies moths that land on it.
Rolnick, an assistant professor in computer science, emphasised the potential for future advancements: "My research focuses on AI innovations driven by climate change challenges." His team aims to train the algorithm to identify previously unknown species, particularly in tropical regions teeming with "uncharacterized diversity."
The AMI system's impact extends beyond the Insectarium's walls. It has been deployed in six countries across three continents, contributing to significant discoveries. In Panama alone, researchers identified 1,500 new moth species, a quarter previously unknown to science.
Given that moths represent a tenth of all global species, with half remaining undiscovered, this technology presents a powerful tool for scientific advancement. "A colleague likened this to burning the library before reading the books," Rolnick thoughtfully noted, highlighting the urgency of documenting insects before habitat loss and climate change erase them forever.
The research findings are readily accessible to the public, and the future holds promise for broader applications of AI in entomological research. This technology has the potential to revolutionise our understanding of both insects and the environmental challenges they face.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
