If the pickled bodies, partial skeletons and stuffed carcasses that fill museums seem a little, well, quiet, fear not. In the latest coup for artificial intelligence, dead animals are to receive a new lease of life to share their stories – and even their experiences of the afterlife. More than a dozen exhibits, ranging from an American cockroach and the remnants of a dodo, to a stuffed red panda and a fin whale skeleton, will be granted the gift of conversation on Tuesday for a month-long project at Cambridge University's Museum of Zoology. Equipped with personalities and accents, the dead creatures and models can converse by voice or text through visitors' mobile phones. The technology allows the animals to describe their time on Earth and the challenges they faced, in the hope of reversing apathy towards the biodiversity crisis.

In the fight against wildlife trafficking, Australian scientists are using the power of artificial intelligence. The method detects animals being smuggled in luggage or the mail using 3-Dimensional X-rays at airports and post offices, and algorithms then warn customs agents. This device uses artificial intelligence to recognize the morphologies of animals that are being trafficked. Australia has a diverse flora and fauna, which has supported an illicit wildlife trade. The researchers created a 3D-scanned "reference library" for three types of wildlife: lizards, birds, and fish, which they used to teach artificial intelligence algorithms to recognize the species.