How AI Is Already Being Used In Aquaculture
Since the mid-20th century, technological innovations have rapidly risen as businesses have uncovered new ways to streamline operations while improving quality. Specifically, over the last decade, there has been a vast increase in research on artificial intelligence (AI), and subsequently the creation of many AI-based tools in a wide variety of industries including Aquaculture.
Thus far, the applications of AI in aquaculture have been primarily limited to salmon farming. Computer vision and machine learning algorithms that analyze images are being used to estimate biomass and select individual fish for focused disease treatment. Biomass estimations in combination with data analysis from water quality sensors can also be used to optimize feeding with AI algorithms. As historical data is built, the AI can build predictive models to estimate optimal stocking and harvest schedules.
Most recently in the world of AI, chatbots have been surging in popularity. AI chatbots are large language models that employ machine learning to use information from the multitude of sources available online to generate responses to human queries, mimicking the format of a human conversation. This raises the question of how AI chatbots might benefit aquaculture farms and businesses.
In aquaculture, AI chatbots could potentially be used to help make informed decisions quickly. Chatbots can provide live updates on a number of factors such as weather, water quality, and disease outbreak. Having this information available quickly, easily, and reliably can help farmers make decisions and manage their farms accordingly. AI chatbots can also work as a resource to help users quickly access information such as training and educational resources and could essentially work as virtual extension specialists for farmers and students.
Responsible Use of AI Chatbots
To learn more about the potential applications of AI chatbots in the aquaculture industry, go to WAS.org:
“How then should AI chatbots be used responsibly? The World Association of Medical Editors recommends that 1) chatbots cannot be authors, 2) authors should be transparent when chatbots are used and provide information about how they were used, 3) authors are responsible for the work performed by a chatbot in their paper and for appropriate attribution of all sources, and 4) editors need appropriate tools to help them detect content generated or altered by AI. Editors of peer-reviewed aquaculture journals, including the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society, would do well to establish similar editorial policies that restrict the use of text generated by AI chatbots.
The rise of AI chatbots, ChatGPT specifically, has been described by some as revolutionary. That may be hyperbolic exaggeration, but there is certainly a lot of buzz about the potential use (and misuse) of this latest development in AI. Google and Microsoft have recognized this as a competitor, if not a threat, to the use of their vaunted search engines.
Aquaculture professionals are encouraged to try out AI chatbots to see what they can do to add value to their professional lives, whether it is creating new content, such as reports, manuals or fact sheets, answering open-ended analytical questions, or providing guidance to aquaculture producers and other stakeholders. The excitement around the potential benefits and applications of AI chatbots should be tempered with an understanding of their limitations and potential for misuse. It remains to be seen what will come of AI chatbots, but the genie is out of the bottle, and we can only hope to channel their use for constructive purposes”
Have you tried using any of the new AI chatbots yet? Can you think of a way it would be useful for fish farming?
Source: AI Chatbots and Aquaculture Professionalism - World Aquaculture Society
Photo Source: WIX - www.wix.com
Written by AQUAMERGE
March 15, 2023