Science, Conservation and AI Technology: Paul Allen's Quest to Save the Planet

By Scarlett Brown

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming one of the main topics concerning the future of technology and is making its way into our daily lives even at its infancy. Just think of self-driving cars or even the phone in your pocket - just ask Siri. These examples are just the beginning, and there seems to be big plans in the works for AI...
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...and one man believes it can even save the planet.

​Paul Allen, a scientist, innovator, philanthropist, and (dare I say) conservationist.  As the co-founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen is investing in projects dedicated to science, technology, conservation, and community culture. From being the founder of Vulcan Inc., Allen Institute for Brain Science, Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Stratolaunch Systems, and many more foundations he has proven himself dedicated to using the latest technology to lead the way into a better future.

Paul Allen’s contributions to conservation efforts are extensive and his future plans are definitely worth following. We live in a world that is disappearing very rapidly and the need for faster and more efficient ways to gather data is more important than ever. It not only takes the skills and knowledge of scientists in the field or the passion of political figures, but it also requires a good monitoring system or advanced computer development to actually take in the data acquired and make sense of it in a way that can help us understand the earth a little bit better.

Here are a few ways Paul Allen has helped fill in these information gaps and how he is striving to make sure technology can keep up with conservation demands:

• In 2014, Paul Allen’s team of dedicated conservationists set out on what he calls the Great Elephant Census (GEC) which was the first aerial census completed in over 40 years. Over 18 countries and 345,000 square miles, Paul Allen’s team used the latest technology and strict protocol to determine the overall loss of these amazing creatures thus far and their estimated numbers for the future. The nearly impossible mission to complete the Pan-African census was successful and has helped implement effective conservation practices and collaboration with many conservation organizations across Africa.​
• The Domain Awareness System (DAS) his team developed in order to stop animal poaching now covers more than 90,000 square kilometers in Africa. The system aggregates the positions of radios, vehicles, aircraft, and animal sensors in real-time. The visual analysis can help the management of protected areas monitor potential threats faster and more efficiently than before. There's even a great video to explain how the software helps protect endangered species. 
• ​Paul Allen’s team have recently deployed an autonomous Seaglider or an underwater drone under the ice shelf in Antarctica in order to gather data more efficiently than before. Scientists and organizations can then use this newly constructed data to understand more about under ice bathymetry and to help fund further research of remote ice shelves that could answer more questions before it is too late.
  

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• Recently the UN has announced a plan to publish a new global assessment of the Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystem services in 2019. The last assessment was published almost 15 years ago with technology that seems, in the light of today’s technological advances, a bit prehistoric. With organizations like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) releasing statements suggesting that over 52% of the world’s biodiversity is lost, and an estimate of over 10 million species yet to be discovered, we must turn to technology to help fill in the information gaps and gather more data in the most critical habitats before we lose species and ecosystems we never knew existed. Paul Allen suggests AI technology will play a role in the new assessment as he believes AI monitoring systems can be deployed in many creative ways, such as on the ground, on animals, in the sky, and even up in space to gather new data faster and more effectively than ever.

“Early work is proving that algorithms can sift through the massive amounts of data streaming back from these monitoring systems. In turn, humans and machines can begin to identify the plants, birds, fish, and other species captured by these remotely deployed cameras, microphones, and more – sometimes down to the unique individual. And we’re finding new ways to deploy these technologies every day. For example, Microsoft is working on ways to use organisms such as mosquitoes as small, self-powered data collection devices that can help us better understand an ecosystem through the animals they feed on.”
- Paul Allen’s team

AI can also take high quality images to create detailed geographic maps and monitoring systems to help researchers and the government assess the health and status of habitats and ecosystems over time. AI can also keep collecting more data in order to become smarter as more information is received causing a learning curve that provide us with knowledge on a much faster and needed scale.

The newest and most innovative technology could be the key to saving the planet, however it’s going to take humans themselves to help. We need the public, government officials, scientists, and conservationists to all come together to use the resources at hand to save ourselves in the end.

Paul Allen has extensively contributed to conservation efforts with the use of technology and I strongly encourage you to check out his website and many other articles and posts about his projects. Because if I’m being honest, I could’ve easily written 50 more pages.