We built an AI tool to help set priorities for conservation in Madagascar: what we found

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – models that process large and diverse datasets and make predictions from them – can have many uses in nature conservation, such as remote monitoring (like the use of camera traps to study animals or plants) or data analysis. Some of these are controversial because AI can be trained to be biased, but others are valuable research tools. Biologist Daniele Silvestro has developed an AI tool that can help identify conservation and restoration priorities. We asked him to tell us more about how it works and what it offers. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a term indicating a broad family of models used to process large and diverse datasets and make predictions from them. We built a model using biodiversity datasets as well as socioeconomic data.