{"id":7813,"date":"2018-04-09T01:17:22","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T05:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/using-machine-learning-to-protect-wild-animals\/"},"modified":"2018-04-09T01:17:41","modified_gmt":"2018-04-09T05:17:41","slug":"using-machine-learning-to-protect-wild-animals","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/using-machine-learning-to-protect-wild-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Machine learning to protect wild animals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Zoological\u00a0Society\u00a0of\u00a0London (ZSL)\u00a0is now partnering with Google\u2019s Cloud AutoML platform to use machine learning to protect wild animals. The partnership can help ZSL leverage Google\u2019s expertise in image recognition to automatically analyze millions of images captured by cameras in the wild and thus identify species movement and potential poachers.<\/p>\n<p>Monitoring and protecting wild animals across vast and remote habitats is a huge challenge. ZSL has been using camera traps to capture images of animals for some time. The cameras have sensors to detect motion and heat, so it can be triggered when wildlife or human moves past. The cameras can capture images and gather data from hard-to-reach areas, and the data can be used to understand the movement of animals and help scientist develop conservation plans for each of the species.<\/p>\n<p>Traditionally all the analysis work are done by human manually. ZSL conservationists had to tag hundreds of images every day in order to analyze the data, which is very labor intensive and time-consuming. According to ZSL, in some cases, reporting on that data takes up to nine months, by which time the situation or animal movements may have been changed and ZSL strategies also need to be changed.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/google-automl-vision-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-7811 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/google-automl-vision-1-1024x631.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/google-automl-vision-1-1024x631.png 1024w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/google-automl-vision-1-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/google-automl-vision-1-768x473.png 768w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/google-automl-vision-1-600x370.png 600w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/google-automl-vision-1.png 1271w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thanks to machine learning algorithm, the tagging work now can be done automatically and it cut the nine months down to an instant. ZSL started building its model in locations it regularly does camera trapping, such as Costa Rica, where it holds a large amount of existing data. ZSL provided Google with existing data of 1.5 million \u201ctagged images\u201d to facilitate the learning of Google AutoML, and later tested the model with new data to refine the model.<\/p>\n<p>The organization is now training custom models by providing more conservation details like region, environment, and species, aiming to create models bespoke for different regions and different species sets. ZSL&#8217;s long-term goal is to create image recognition models that any conservationist can use to identify specific species and humans by simply uploading their data and getting insights back.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Value creation:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>By automatically analyzing millions of images, the machine learning can help ZSL speed up data processing. It will benefit conservationists in identifying animal species more efficiently and making conservation plan by monitoring and tracking their movements. It will be particularly helpful in protecting endangered species.<\/li>\n<li>Additionally, the tool can also help detect poachers, sending real-time alert to conservationists and helping respond to the threats as soon as possible. I am looking forward to seeing the tool helps reduce the trade in elephant ivory, rhino horn, and other wildlife products.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Ongoing challenges:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The early pilot proved its usefulness, but the accuracy of image recognition is still challenged. According to a report published on CBR \u201clast year, skiers were miss-identified for a dog (by the model)\u201d. It reminds me the example of \u201cbagel or puppy\u201d we talked in class. However, with a larger dataset and continuously improved technology, the algorithms will be able to identify more subtle variations and be more accurate in the future.<\/li>\n<li>I think implementing the technology may face some challenges, as it requires a large number of cameras that can endure extreme conditions and can be connected from extremely remote areas. As a charity organization that relies on government funding and donations, ZSL may need to convince its stakeholders the value created by machine learning algorithm and collect enough funding to deploy the technology.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is just a start, \u201cOur longer-term goal is to provide a health check for the planet, and that\u2019s a very big ambition obviously, but as it starts to become possible to perform more of these studies and get the results back more quickly, our view of biodiversity will grow and grow.\u201d Says Sophie Maxwell, head of conservation technology at ZSL.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/elephant-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7812 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/elephant-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/elephant-1.png 620w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/elephant-1-300x197.png 300w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/elephant-1-600x394.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sources:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>https:\/\/www.cbronline.com\/news\/google-ai-algorithm-zoos<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/diginomica.com\/2018\/02\/02\/zsl-puts-machine-learning-work-studying-camera-trap-data\/\">https:\/\/diginomica.com\/2018\/02\/02\/zsl-puts-machine-learning-work-studying-camera-trap-data\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zsl.org\/conservation\/news\/new-funding-to-tackle-wildlife-crime\">https:\/\/www.zsl.org\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerworlduk.com\/data\/how-zsl-is-using-cloud-automl-prevent-poaching-with-automated-image-tagging-3671144\/\">https:\/\/www.computerworlduk.com\/data\/how-zsl-is-using-cloud-automl-prevent-poaching-with-automated-image-tagging-3671144\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.networksasia.net\/article\/how-cloud-automl-helps-zsl-london-zoo-prevent-poaching-automated-image-tagging.1517447038\">https:\/\/www.networksasia.net\/article\/how-cloud-automl-helps-zsl-london-zoo-prevent-poaching-automated-image-tagging.1517447038<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/business\/Industry\/google-to-make-artificial-intelligence-accessible-to-every-business\/article22457587.ece\">http:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/business\/Industry\/google-to-make-artificial-intelligence-accessible-to-every-business\/article22457587.ece<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; The Zoological\u00a0Society\u00a0of\u00a0London (ZSL)\u00a0is now partnering with Google\u2019s Cloud AutoML platform to use machine learning to protect wild animals. The partnership can help ZSL leverage Google\u2019s expertise in image recognition to automatically analyze millions of images captured by cameras in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2040,"featured_media":7814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-7813","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/competing-with-data-challenge\/","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Using Machine learning to protect wild animals - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/using-machine-learning-to-protect-wild-animals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Using Machine learning to protect wild animals - Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; The Zoological\u00a0Society\u00a0of\u00a0London (ZSL)\u00a0is now partnering with Google\u2019s Cloud AutoML platform to use machine learning to protect wild animals. 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