After a couple weeks of traveling and going to tech focused conferences, I'm getting a much needed break. I learned so much listening to these talks and meeting new people. A big discussion at each conference was AI, and there were many talks around new software, how it's being integrated into existing tools, ethics, and the future of AI.
I'll be the first to say I'm a (big) skeptic. I don't think that just because we could do something means we should. And while I try and have a hopeful outlook, that doesn't mean that I'll disregard what we know about human psychology and how we've used and abused huge technical leaps in the past.
But, in an effort to keep an open mind, I want to share some of the ways I think AI might help us connect, protect, or expand our understanding of the natural world.
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design
AI is being used to design new proteins to be used for vaccines, therapeutics and biomaterials. The AI software was inspired by Midjourney, which creates images. In this context, the software is able to create images of potential protein strands that researchers can manufacture and test.
nature
This is hopefully a growing article, taking stock of different scientific groups and AI models that are being used to help us conserve, monitor, or protect the natural world. AI has started to really gain traction in helping scientists identify and track large data sets.
reimagine
You know I love sharing nature inspired art here, and last year there was a showing of Entanglement by Artificial Nature. Artificial Nature is made up of artists Haru Ji and Graham Wakefield. Entanglement is an immersive visual project using generative AI models to create trees and a mychorrhizal network that grows across the screen and envelops you. I love projects like this because it makes the viewer a part of the art, and you get to feel like you're inside this rapidly growing forest. You can watch the video here.
