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Artificial intelligence is changing how researchers examine the microscopic biological world. At the same time, machine learning approaches are being applied to images on greater scales. From snapshots of the brain and other organs to satellite images of Earth’s surface, intelligent computer programs can spot trends or features of complex systems that escape visual detection by experts.
Aided by cameras with shutters triggered by motion, animal researchers can keep an eye on their field sites even from far away. But such camera traps snap away at anything that passes by, and it still takes a lot of human effort to slog through photos to identify the animals and make note of what they’re doing. (See “Streakers, Poopers, and Performers: The Wilder Side of Wildlife Cameras,” The Scientist, April 2017.)
A tool developed last year by researchers at the University of Wyoming showed that AI—along with tens ...
