TEP Talk: AI and Icebergs
With spring in full bloom, we at Tech Square ATL (TSQATL) Social Club have been appreciating the warmer weather, while simultaneously recognizing the unfortunate effects of climate change that come along with it. And we’re not the only ones. Microsoft is on the same page, with their AI for Earth initiative centered around providing cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to those working to solve global environmental challenges. So, we put on both our environmentalist and technologist hats and headed over to Technology Enterprise Park (TEP) to enjoy the sunshine and host a Coffee Talk around this exact topic.
Late last week, TEP community members stopped by for coffee, doughnuts, and our “AI and Icebergs” discussion around what global environmental challenge(s) they'd like to see cloud computing and AI tools applied to. Not surprisingly, they were very vocal on the matter:
Since several of the attendees were chemists, they were very interested in carbon emissions and how one might harness the power of chemistry to create solutions to reduce our global footprint. Additionally, many TEP members are from the Gulf Coast region and concerned about the increased number of hurricanes, which they believe may be correlated to carbon emissions.
We all know major car companies are now, or will be, creating electric vehicles (EVs) to help with global warming, but what about our four-legged friends? Carnivore Bytes is piloting an app with dog owners to train them on an algorithm to better understand how changes in the noises wild dogs make might signal changes in their physical environment. As their website states, “To automatically detect behavior in the wild, we are exploring the use of machine learning to “teach” the collar certain acoustic signatures, such as panting, eating, and drinking. This could help us to better understand how an increase in temperature caused by climate change may affect the wild dogs and enable us to monitor and quantify the amount of food and water packs have access to.”
DID YOU KNOW?
In the next several days, the Biden administration is expected to announce plans across the economy to reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions dramatically by 2030. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done, and experts are saying it will take centuries to truly dissipate.
How would you use AI to study/improve a piece of Earth? Let us know in the comments below.