Researchers have developed arrays of AI-controlled cameras and microphones to identify animals and birds and to monitor their movements in the wild – technology, they say, that should help tackle Britain's growing biodiversity problem. The robot monitors have been tested at three sites and have captured sounds and images from which computers were able to identify specific species and map their locations. Dozens of different birds were recognised from their songs while foxes, deer, hedgehogs and bats were pinpointed and identified by AI analysis. No human observers are involved. "The crucial point is the scale of the operation," said Anthony Dancer, a conservation specialist at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

As the world grows older, issues surrounding elderly care abound: who's taking care of our elderly relatives, are they doing it well, and how do we keep track of well-being and safety in a sensitive way? Israeli startup Sensi.AI thinks it may have the solution with a smart, AI-powered auditory system that monitors a person's daily routine, environment and well-being, which it claims can provide better caregiver retention and quality-of-care assurance– not only for the elderly, but also for babies, special-needs kids and others. "The idea for it came out of my own personal place, to do with my daughter," says Sensi.AI CEO Romi Gubes. "I understood this whole world of caregiving for the helpless, and how much the element of transparency is lacking in order to prevent future problems." This lack of transparency, she explains, is the result of the often-silent population that requires caregiving and can lead to blind spots in the treatment process that inhibit improvement.

Seoul – In a cramped office in eastern Seoul, Hwang Seungwon points a remote control toward a huge NASA-like overhead screen stretching across one of the walls. With each flick of the control, a colorful array of pie charts, graphs and maps reveals the search habits of thousands of South Korean senior citizens being monitored by voice-enabled "smart" speakers, an experimental remote care service the company says is increasingly needed during the coronavirus crisis. "We closely monitor for signs of danger, whether they are more frequently using search words that indicate rising states of loneliness or insecurity," said Hwang, director of a social enterprise established by SK Telecom to handle the service. Trigger words lead to a recommendation for a visit by local public health officials. As South Korea's government pushes to allow businesses to access vast amounts of personal information and to ease restrictions holding back telemedicine, tech firms could potentially find much bigger markets for their artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.