AI for Earth

Dr. Lucas Joppa of Microsoft Research discussed his work as the Chief Environmental Scientist and his interests in using data and computational resources to address environmental problems at the age of information and Anthropocene, a term referring to significant human impact on the Earth’s geology and ecosystem.  He believes thoughtful analysis of unprecedented type and amount of data coming from a variety of devices every day not only can help in tracking human behavior but also can be beneficial in taking appropriate actions against negative impacts of human beings on Earth.

To combat these interdisciplinary challenges, Dr. Joppa has founded an initiative, AI for Earth where he aims to address problems in different areas including agriculture, climate, biodiversity loss, and water. Given the fact that some of the species on the planet are close to extinction, he explained how environmental techniques can be used along with technology to design smart trap devices and also how mosquitoes can be exploited to gather data at scale.

As another example of the projects at AI for Earth, he discussed FarmBeats which is about using AI and machine learning algorithms to integrate sensor data with aerial images in order to deliver actionable insights to farmers.

More information about AI for Earth can be found here.