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Polish Proteine Resources Secures €1.4M for Its AI-Powered Insect Farming
October 4, 2024 (The Recursive)
Proteine Resources uses AI for automated monitoring of insect farming conditions, ensuring optimal environments for larvae growth. The AI-driven system enhances operational efficiency by adjusting variables such as temperature, humidity, and feeding schedules, enabling sustainable, scalable production of high-protein insect-based products for animal feed and human consumption.
Alstom and Flox trialling AI wildlife detection system in Sweden
October 2, 2024 (Railway Technology)
Alstom and Flox are trialing an AI wildlife detection system on Swedish railways to reduce train-animal collisions, with the technology identifying animals and using tailored sound signals to deter them. The project, funded by a Swedish government grant, aims to enhance both rail safety and wildlife protection by preventing the approximately 5,000 annual animal collisions on Sweden's tracks.
Animals in the machine: why the law needs to protect animals from AI
September 30, 2024 (The Conversation)
AI has the potential to both help and harm animals, benefiting areas like veterinary care but also facilitating illegal wildlife trade and perpetuating animal cruelty. Australia's renewed Animal Welfare Strategy should address these AI-related risks to ensure technology does not amplify existing animal harms or create new ones.
Animal-counting drones help farmers speed up stocktake
September 30, 2024 (1 News)
AI-powered drones are revolutionizing livestock counting on farms in New Zealand, significantly speeding up the process by quickly identifying and counting animals from aerial footage. This innovation reduces human error, enhances efficiency, and provides farmers with rapid and accurate stocktake results, improving operational management.
EuroTier 2024: Trends in livestock technology
September 24, 2024 (EuroTier)
EuroTier 2024, the world's leading livestock technology fair, will showcase AI-powered solutions for animal monitoring, automated feeding systems, and emission-reducing barn designs. The November event will highlight innovations in robotic farm assistance, climate control technologies, and data integration to improve animal welfare and farm efficiency.
A Look at Science, Technology, and Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Aquaculture
September 23, 2024 (Environmental Defense Fund)
Advanced AI and robotics are improving aquaculture sustainability through automated feeding, disease detection, and remote monitoring of ocean farms. Meanwhile, innovations in feed formulas, pen designs, and traceability systems aim to reduce environmental impacts and improve efficiency in open ocean fish farming.
AI Caught In ‘Tug-Of-War’ Between Animal Agriculture And Advocacy
September 22, 2024 (Plant Based News)
AI is creating a "tug-of-war" in animal agriculture, with potential to intensify factory farming or empower animal advocacy efforts. Open Paws founder Sam Tucker argues now is the critical time to direct AI towards compassionate purposes, helping advocacy organizations while pushing for restrictions on AI use in animal farming.
Advanced biomass camera proves a success for New Zealand salmon farms
September 16, 2024 (The Fish Site)
Ace Aquatec's A-BIOMASS camera, using AI and machine learning, has proven successful at Mount Cook Alpine Salmon's New Zealand farm, providing accurate real-time biomass estimates in challenging conditions. The technology has improved harvest results and reduced fish stress, prompting Ace Aquatec to pursue expansion across Oceania's aquaculture industry.
Using AI, EWG maps 357M poultry on North Carolina’s factory farms
September 12, 2024 (Environmental Working Group)
The Environmental Working Group used AI to map 357 million chickens and turkeys on North Carolina factory farms, revealing a 43% increase since 2007 and significant environmental concerns. The investigation highlights the lack of state oversight and potential health risks associated with dense concentrations of poultry operations, including air and water pollution from the estimated 3.2 million tons of manure produced annually.
Valiance Solutions launches WildlifeIQ: Intelligent insights for effective wildlife monitoring and conservation
September 9, 2024 (CRN India)
Valiance Solutions has launched WildlifeIQ, an AI-powered platform for intelligent wildlife monitoring and conservation, featuring automated species classification, tiger identification, and conflict prediction. The system significantly speeds up the analysis of camera trap images from months to days, offering real-time insights to help manage human-wildlife conflicts more effectively.
Could AI replace animal research?
September 5, 2024 (Understanding Animal Research)
AI is increasingly being used to improve the efficiency and precision of animal research, particularly in fields like toxicology, where AI-driven models replicate human biological systems to predict responses to substances, complementing traditional animal testing. While AI shows promise in enhancing data analysis, experimental design, and outcome prediction, it is not yet capable of fully replacing animal models due to the complexity of living organisms; instead, it primarily serves to refine current methods and reduce the number of animals used.
Op-ed: AI data modeling and nanotechnology are innovations every farmer should be taking note of
September 4, 2024 (Seafood Source)
Norwegian aquaculture startups like Manolin and Biofeyn are using AI and advanced technologies to improve fish farming efficiency and sustainability. Manolin applies AI-driven predictive modeling to optimize salmon farming by helping farmers predict health issues, optimize breeding and genetics, and improve treatments for sea lice; while Biofeyn uses nanotechnology to enhance fish nutrition and deliver oral vaccines via feed.
Danish researchers use AI to understand pigs
September 4, 2024 (The Local)
Danish researchers from the University of Copenhagen used AI to decode 19 distinct pig vocalizations, identifying emotions like happiness, sadness, fear, frustration, and stress. The study, based on over 15,000 recorded pig grunts, found that pigs in conventional farms expressed distress more frequently (25%) compared to pigs in outdoor environments (8%), highlighting welfare differences.
How AI is Powering the Next Generation of Plant-Based Food
September 3, 2024 (VegNews)
Three companies are using AI to revolutionize plant-based foods: Climax Foods uses AI to analyze animal-based foods at a molecular level, creating hyper-realistic vegan cheeses with plant-based casein; Meati employs AI to optimize the nutrition of mycelium-based meat alternatives; and NotCo's AI, Giuseppe, mimics the molecular structure of animal products, generating innovative plant-based recipes, such as using pineapple and cabbage to replicate dairy milk. These innovations aim to improve taste, texture, and nutritional value while reducing production costs.
[Audio] Translating whale, with the help of AI
August 30, 2024 (Wisconsin Public Radio)
Project CETI uses AI and autonomous submarines to record and analyze sperm whale vocalizations, identifying distinct "codas" that vary by family and region, such as the unique "one plus one plus three" pattern found only in Caribbean sperm whales. These codas are believed to convey cultural information, like clan identity, behavior, and habitat use, and the project's machine learning models help process vast amounts of audio to classify these patterns, revealing nuanced communication that may change with context, like tempo shifts indicating different emotional states.
How AI can help design proteins for the food industry
August 30, 2024 (Food Navigator)
Start-ups like Cradle are using generative AI to design and optimize proteins for various applications in the food industry, such as improving the stability of growth factors in cultivated meat or enhancing the clarity of fruit juices. This technology allows for the creation of proteins with specific properties that may not naturally occur, significantly speeding up the development process and enabling new functionalities, like extending shelf life or removing off-tastes in plant-based products.
How machine learning is helping us probe the secret names of animals
August 29, 2024 (MIT Technology Review)
Researchers at Hebrew University in Israel have used machine learning and audio analysis to discover that marmoset monkeys use specific vocal labels, akin to names, to identify and communicate with individual monkeys. By employing a statistical technique called "random forest," the team was able to classify and analyze these sounds, providing strong evidence that these vocal labels are a form of primitive naming, similar to what has been observed in humans, dolphins, elephants, and parrots.
How generative AI could boost plant-based protein functionality
August 27, 2024 (Food Navigator)
AI Bobby's generative AI technology specifically designs and optimizes plant-based proteins by analyzing vast datasets to identify the most effective protein structures for desired functionalities, such as gelation, which is crucial for achieving the right texture and mouthfeel in plant-based products. The AI models are trained to predict and enhance the gelling properties of proteins, enabling the creation of plant-based meats and dairy analogues with improved consistency and reduced need for additional ingredients, thus lowering production costs and improving product quality.
Trump Calls Wind Turbines Bird Killers. New AI Tech Saves Them From The Blades
August 27, 2024 (Forbes)
New AI-powered radar systems can detect bird flocks and automatically halt wind turbines to prevent collisions, with successful trials in Portugal and upcoming implementations in Dutch wind farms. While wind turbines do kill birds, studies show that domestic cats, buildings, and vehicles are far greater threats to bird populations.
AI can detect wildfires and monitor endangered birds, according to Hong Kong experts, start-up
August 19, 2024 (South China Morning Post)
Hong Kong experts and start-ups are leveraging AI to enhance conservation efforts, such as detecting wildfires and monitoring endangered bird populations. Robotics Cats, a local AI start-up, uses advanced surveillance cameras and deep learning to automate wildlife tracking and habitat management, earning recognition from the World Economic Forum. Despite challenges like remote habitat conditions affecting accuracy, AI-driven solutions are proving valuable in tasks like bird counting and wildfire detection, with potential for broader adoption in environmental protection initiatives.
How do swine producers and veterinarians think precision livestock farming could help farms?
August 13, 2024 (Michigan State University)
Swine veterinarians see more potential in precision livestock farming (PLF) than producers, particularly for addressing respiratory and tail-biting issues, with 75% recommending PLF to their clients. Both producers and vets agree that PLF is most needed for reducing piglet mortality, lameness, and post-weaning issues, highlighting a shared concern for animal welfare. Veterinarians tend to prioritize health and performance, while producers consider broader operational factors when deciding on PLF adoption.
Google’s aquaculture AI spin-off to expand to Australia, Chile with new funding
August 13, 2024 (Undercurrent News)
Tidal, Google's aquaculture AI spin-off, has secured new funding to strengthen its presence in Norway and expand to Australia and Chile. Tidal’s AI-driven underwater technology, already deployed in over 250 pens globally, helps salmon farmers track growth, monitor fish welfare, and optimize feeding through autonomous systems, aiming to solve key industry challenges.
AI and food-grade bioreactors may improve margins on cultivated meat commercialization
August 13, 2024 (Food Navigator USA)
To scale cultivated meat production from kilograms to tons, the industry needs to shift from expensive pharmaceutical-grade bioreactors to cost-effective food-grade alternatives, which are currently unavailable. Leveraging AI and machine learning can optimize bioprocesses by analyzing data from sensors in bioreactors to improve efficiency, such as timing media feeds and adjusting temperatures in real-time. Public-private partnerships, like the Bezos Earth Fund's AI for Climate initiative, are essential to fund and develop scalable solutions, including serum-free media and other cost-reducing technologies.
Redefine Meat expands its reach into the EU
August 2, 2024 (Food Manufacture)
Redefine Meat, a plant-based meat company, has expanded its presence in the European market by securing listings with major retailers such as Coop in Switzerland, Jumbo in the Netherlands, Velivery in Germany, and Monoprix in France. To support this growth, the company plans to scale up production at its Netherlands factory, with the aim of meeting rising demand and reducing CO2 emissions by 210,000,000 kg. Redefine Meat uses AI and 3D printing technology to create plant-based products that mimic the texture and structure of real meat
[Video] How AI could help us talk to animals
August 1, 2024 (Vox)
Researchers studying animal communication have made significant progress using AI to decode complex vocalizations in species like African elephants. Observations that elephants may direct calls to specific individuals were supported by a study using statistical models that could predict which elephant a call was intended for, suggesting that elephants may use names. Advances in machine learning, including self-supervised models, are now being explored to uncover deeper patterns in animal communication, potentially paving the way for true interspecies dialogue, although the challenge of validation remains significant.
Could AI save your pet's life?
August 1, 2024 (BBC News)
AI is increasingly being used in veterinary practices, allowing for faster and more accurate diagnoses of pet illnesses. At the Royston Veterinary Centre, AI tools like Vetscan Imagyst help analyze samples such as blood, urine, and tissue in a matter of hours, enabling quicker treatment decisions and reducing the need for invasive procedures. While AI is proving to be a valuable tool for improving animal care, it must be used responsibly, with veterinary surgeons retaining the final say in diagnosis and treatment.
Precision livestock tech has hurdles
August 1, 2024 (The Western Producer)
Precision livestock farming holds significant promise for improving animal health, efficiency, and environmental sustainability, but adoption is hindered by economic risks and limited commercial availability. Farmers are hesitant to invest in these technologies without clear evidence of a return on investment, and the complexity of some precision systems further complicates their implementation. Additionally, data ownership remains a contentious issue, with producers concerned about who controls the valuable data generated by these systems and how it is used.
You can find news articles from before August 2024 on our News Archive page.