Bioacoustic AI for wildlife protection

生物多样性危机正成为人们关注的焦点。BioacAI网络将通过实现人工智能声学监测的承诺，为野生动物保护建立一个重要的现代证据来源。生物多样性丧失被列为全球五大风险之一，无论是影响还是可能性(世界经济论坛2020,2021,2022)。大陆范围的评估警告说，鸟类和昆虫等主要分类群的数量将会下降。然而，监测生物多样性变化的数据仍然不完整--在空间上、时间上和分类上。为了稳定生物多样性趋势和评估生态系统恢复干预措施，更好、更快地监测世界野生动物并提供快速情报使我们能够管理这些风险是至关重要的。声音记录是监测许多关键动物物种的一种廉价、快速和强大的方式，现代机器学习可以从根本上提高其规模和精度。然而，存在两个障碍：人工智能增强的生物声学监测工具处于低准备水平，几乎没有端到端的解决方案；以及存在巨大的技能差距--目前没有培训计划培养具有横跨声学、人工智能(AI)和动物学/生态学技能的专家。BioacAI博士网络正是为解决这些问题而设计的。我们的研究计划直接在声学野生动物监测的背景下开发新的人工智能方法，使用来自欧洲领先生物声学公司的设备，在活跃的野生动物监测部署中。我们的培训计划提供“全套”生物声学人工智能技能和有针对性的研究经验，以培养下一代专业人员-他们利用技术创新，以前所未有的全球规模和细节监测和理解动物。

The biodiversity crisis is coming into sharp focus. The BioacAI network will establish a vital modern evidence source for wildlife protection, by bringing the promise of AI-powered acoustic monitoring to fruition.Biodiversity loss is ranked as one of the top 5 global risks, both in impact and likelihood (World Economic Forum 2020, 2021, 2022). Continental-scale assessments warn of population declines in major taxa such as birds and insects. Yet data for monitoring biodiversity change remain incomplete - spatially, temporally and taxonomically. To stabilise biodiversity trends and assess ecosystem restoration interventions, it is crucial to monitor the world's wildlife better, faster, and to provide rapid intelligence that can enable us to manage these risks.Sound recording is a cheap, rapid and powerful way to monitor many key animal species, and modern machine learning can radically improve its scale and precision. However, there are two barriers: AI-enhanced tools for bioacoustic monitoring are at a low readiness level, with few end-to-end solutions available; and there is a big skills gap - no current training programme produces experts with skills spanning acoustics, artificial intelligence (AI) and zoology/ecology.The BioacAI doctoral network is designed to address exactly these issues. Our research programme develops new AI methods directly within the context of acoustic wildlife monitoring, using devices from leading European bioacoustics companies, in active wildlife monitoring deployments.Our training programme provides "full stack" bioacoustic AI skills and targeted research experience, to build the next generation of professionals - the people who innovate with technology to monitor and understand animals at unprecedented global scale and detail.