Oceans cover 71% of our planet and contain a volume of plastic that has become so high that "in just a few years, we might end up with a pound of plastic for every three pounds of fish in the sea" (1). Every year, more than 8 millions metric tons of plastics enter our oceans on top of an estimated 150 million metric tons already circulating through them (1). The Pacific Garbage Patch has become a poignant icon of ocean pollution across media outlets, environmental campaigns, and social media platforms. We've all seen the images of birds nesting in piles of garbage, sea turtles with plastic straws up their noses, and fish entangled in netting that are displayed across the internet. But even more horrifying is that "approximately half of all plastic pollution is submerged below the ocean surface, much of it in the form of microplastics so small that we may never be able to clean them up completely" (2).

In 2019, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) formulated a plan for the integration of artificial intelligence with education, and suggested that AI has the potential to create a more equitable, efficient, and innovative educational system (1). Although this statement was made prior to Covid-19's rapid proliferation, it warrants renewed consideration in light of the calamitous effects the pandemic has had on the education system. The abrupt shift to remote learning and subsequent return to in-person instruction have revealed significant decreases in learning outcomes and readiness to meet academic standards (2); decreases that a return to normalcy has little hope of addressing. Now, if ever, is the time to look towards innovative means of enhancing education, and artificial intelligence could prove to be the change required to bring about meaningful academic growth. Recent studies indicate that in the United States, school closures and remote learning have resulted in significant decreases in educational outcomes for K-5 students that roughly equate to a five month deficit in math skills, and a four month deficit in reading comprehension (2).

Music is central to modern entertainment and culture. It serves as stand-alone art, as a backdrop to daily life, and as an important feature in industries like film and advertising. What if the music you hear on the radio was not composed by a human at all, but by a machine? The application of AI in creative spaces like music and art is not new, but recent years have seen a dramatic expanse in machine learning capabilities in music composition. AI is being used by researchers and startups to compose soundtracks and soundscapes, and to create original songs within the style of specific genres and artists.