Canada AI project hopes to help reverse mass insect extinction [Video]

Researchers in Canada are using artificial intelligence to monitor the ongoing mass extinction of insects, hoping to collect data that can help reverse species collapse and avert catastrophe for the planet.

“Of all the mass extinctions we have experienced in the past, the one affecting insects is happening a thousand times faster,” said Maxim Larrivee, director of the Montreal Insectarium.

The decline is occurring so quickly it can’t be properly monitored, making it impossible “to put in place the necessary actions to slow it down,” he told AFP.

For the Montreal-based project, called Antenna, some of the data collection is happening inside the insectarium under a large transparent dome, where thousands of butterflies, ants and praying mantises are being studied.

Solar-powered camera traps have also been installed in several regions, from the Canadian far north to Panamanian rainforests, snapping photos every 10 seconds of insects attracted to UV lights.

Larrivee …