MOSS LANDING, Calif. —
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is diving deep into the world of artificial intelligence, with a little help from the public. Their latest aquatic adventure, Ocean Vision AI, is set to make waves in marine research by speeding up ocean discovery like never before. And the best part? They’re inviting you to plunge into this oceanic odyssey with them.
Swimming in cash, thanks to the National Science Foundation
Ocean Vision AI managed to reel in a whopping $5 million from the National Science Foundation back in October 2022. Why? To “accelerate processing of—and access to—ocean video and imagery to enable effective marine stewardship.”In other words, they’re using AI to turn oceans of data into oceans of knowledge, and they’re doing it at breakneck speed.
A three-course meal for the AI aficionado
MBARI isn’t just dipping its toes in the water with this project. They’re going full steam ahead, creating three distinct products to form the backbone of their AI platform.
First up is “Fathom Net,”a global image and machine learning model repository. This open-source image database uses expert-labeled data to teach AI how to spot marine life in photos and images. The result? Faster processing of visual data for researchers, and a whole lot less time spent staring at screens trying to figure out if that’s a fish or a piece of seaweed.
It takes a village (of humans) to raise an AI
But Ocean Vision AI isn’t just about fancy algorithms and high-tech databases. It’s also about the power of human collaboration. As the folks at MBARI put it:
“Advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence can help process the deluge of data researchers are collecting about the #ocean, but still require human intervention to train & improve the performance of these algorithms. That’s where Ocean Vision AI comes in.”
So, if you’ve ever dreamed of being part of a cutting-edge AI project that helps save our oceans, now’s your chance. Dive in, and let’s make some waves!
— Ocean Vision AI (@OceanVisionAI) June 13, 2023
Ocean Vision AI will create an online portal for researchers to access their data.
