AI can help detect wildfires, monitor endangered bird species: Hong Kong experts, start-up

‘AI can identify species accurately, perform automated surveillance and process large data sets,’ expert says

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An AI-powered bird counting system in action. Photo: Robotics Cats

Published: 12:00pm, 18 Aug 2024Updated: 6:50pm, 18 Aug 2024

The rising use of artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising Hong Kong conservation efforts as it offers more accurate population estimates of some species and monitors their habitats more efficiently, experts and a start-up have said.

Among the recent efforts is Robotics Cats, an AI start-up that has just been recognised as a “top innovator” by the World Economic Forum’s platform UpLink during its Annual Meeting of the New Champions in the mainland Chinese city of Dalian in June.

Andre Cheung Wai-kin, the start-up founder, said his team had approached the sector in Hong Kong to explore joint partnerships to power conservation and habitat management with AI.

With a system involving advanced surveillance cameras, users can detect wildfires and birds and conduct real-time habitat monitoring.

It consists of an automated wildfire detection tool that identifies early stage wildfires through computer vision and deep learning, drawing from a myriad of more than 500,000 wildfire images.

Similarly, the other AI bird detection system employs thousands of photos to identify species and conduct automated counting.