In Australia alone, there are 127 species of reptiles that are kidnapped from their natural habitats to become part of a huge network of trafficking in animal species. What to do in such a scenario? Despite being one of the largest crimes committed on a global scale, Australian authorities often do not know how it is carried out, or when or where. Now the artificial intelligence comes to the rescue of these species.
A post from The Conversation lets us see an attempt to stop these bad practices. Vanessa Pirotta, postdoctoral researcher and wildlife scientist at Macquarie University; and Justin O’Brien, manager of conservation sciences, at Australia’s Taronga Conservation Society, are the leaders of this study. Both researchers have set to work to discover how to use artificial intelligence to their advantage. Today, it seems they have found a way.
The secret is in the forms of the animal species. This artificial intelligence recognizes the body structure of these beings when scanning the luggage. This procedure can be carried out at international airports, and even at shipping centers.
How this AI capable of recognizing animal traffic works
When we say that this is a serious problem in Australia, it is because it is on an unimaginable scale. Some people have even tried to traffic animals in cookie packaging.. This was the case of a Malaysian man, who received a sentence of 2 years and 4 months without the right to parole.
It is one of the many reasons that have led to the development of this AI. With this in mind, the researchers decided to create an “animal trafficking photo library”. Thus, they can use “real-time tomography” algorithms, and state-of-the-art technology, to detect animals that are victims of illegal trafficking.
What is real-time tomography? It is an imaging technique through an X-ray process. With it it is allowed to scan animals to create three-dimensional images of them. Thus, algorithms capable of detecting their shape are generated, and closed objects such as luggage or parcels can then be scanned. In case the artificial intelligence finds a match between the shape of the animal and an object inside the luggage, it will alert the operators.
For their part, those responsible for the study report that “this research is the first to document the use of 3D X-ray security scanner technology for wildlife protection”. In addition, she is also the first to report her results in detecting reptiles, birds and fish in said scanners.
The immense effort to stop the erosion of biodiversity in the world
With the screening tool, it is hoped that it will complement existing Australian Border Force measures. In this way, biosecurity agents and detection dogs can also incorporate a new technology, which will be crucial in fighting wildlife crime.
If everything goes well, this AI could be implemented in other regions whose fauna is threatened by illegal trafficking. Among these, we have countries like Kenya, Vietnam and Malaysia, which have some of the highest rates of extraction of endemic species.