Summary Reader Response Draft 3

In the article “How Artificial Intelligence, Robots Enhance Forest Sustainability in Finland”, McQueen (2019) showcased the Finnish Forest Centre’s implementation of advanced technologies in enhancing forest sustainability. 

Finland is covered in forests to the tune of 75%, and data can be acquired using aerial mapping technology in conjunction with light detection and ranging technology. With the advent of artificial intelligence, forest management is being simplified, which further maximizes the trees' sequestration of carbon, while filling up jobs in forestry.

McQueen describes how the Finns adopted environmental regulations to balance economic progress and forest preservation. The regulations prohibit practices like draining bogs and herbicide use. Under this legislation, landowners are encouraged to be active in the care of their property while the center provides recommendations.

One of the benefits of having an intelligence assistant provides forest owners with an online marketplace to engage with professionals, while utilizing data in the geographic information system where it is gathered by laser scanning, aerial photography, sample plot measurements, and site visits.

McQueen concluded that artificial intelligence could assist in obtaining more accurate data. The combined information can enable more precise measurements of forests and a better forecast of forest inventory. Furthermore, enhanced logistics and supply networks are included. In addition to discussing the use of these technologies in forests, McQueen states that with insights generated by artificial intelligence, society can influence changes in forestry legislation and find new strategies to maximize tree carbon sequestration.

In my opinion, artificial Intelligence (AI) has proven useful in solving multiple challenges through the incorporation of algorithms, precise measurements, and providing real-time data of the daily forestry movement.

Artificial Intelligence became an essential tool to most users through the incorporation of algorithms in the robots. In the AI technologies world, algorithms are used for calculation, data process and automation. This process has been known to many prospective clients where automation reduces manual efforts and the associated cost of the procedure while yielding precise results. According to Chen (2020), Artificial intelligence incorporates algorithms to automate forestry where a robot will whirl through the fields while extracting data about crops, fruit supply on trees, and supplying accurate statistics to growers.

In addition to providing benefits for automation, artificial intelligence also provides accurate data measurements to various growers. With the advent of unique and advanced artificial intelligence, forest management is being simplified where the implementation of artificial intelligence integrated with algorithms has minimized the amount of fieldwork time, whilst obtaining accurate results.  Artificial intelligence is able to take on challenges to individually take on tasks such as forestry monitoring, measurement, reporting, and verification, such as pest infestations, forest degradation, deforestation, and forest restoration. For example, the same measures that would require in-person measurement are being extracted using machine learning algorithms. According to Bakker (2019) In addition to assisting with measurements, artificial intelligence is employed to descry deforestation at an early stage, for example, this insight can be used to facilitate prevention or curtail the outbreak of infectious trees. 

Furthermore, as Artificial Intelligence works closely towards machine learning programs, it provides real-time data to its owners based on their tailored needs and understanding of how their land of trees is doing based on its health. This aids their owners by providing insights for making better decisions quickly. According to Pachama (2021) harnessing satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to measure and monitor carbon capture in forests. The implementation of AI not only streamlines the process, saves time, and reduces manual efforts, but it also reduces the cost of the procedure while yielding precise results. The reduction in the cost of measuring a forest’s carbon storage allows a greater share of the money spent on carbon offsets to reach landowners. People and businesses who buy carbon offsets can be more confident that their money is being spent on effective carbon removal technologies as the precision of those data improves.

While technological advancements have proven to be helpful in many fields such as forestry, there is a slim possibility that the robots could malfunction, despite the high success rate of these advancements and their benefits. Research indicates that there are various factors contributing to artificial intelligence malfunctioning where one reason might be a technical error in the control system, Taipei times(2021).

Ultimately, I agree that the adoption of AI-technology deployment is critical towards sustainability and the process of forestry simplification management. Automated decision making and predictive analytics through artificial intelligence, in combination with rapid progress in technologies such as lidar, aerial technology, and robotics, simplifies forestry management, whilst obtaining accurate data. With the assistance of AI, harnessing data, and gaining insights into real-time analytical data and prediction, foresters could make the optimal decision in each case based on data to enable sustainable forest management.

 

 

Citations:

 

Detecting forest threats with Artificial Intelligence. (2019, June 11). Space of Innovation.

https://space-of-innovation.com/detecting-forest-threats-with-ai/ 

 

Lopez. (2020, October 13). Treeswift's autonomous robots take flight to save forests. Phys.org.      https://phys.org/news/2020-10-treeswift-autonomous-robots-flight-forests.html#:~:text=Chen%20founded%20Treeswift%20as%20a,%2C%20inventory%2C%20and%20map%20timberland. 

 

Pachama. (2021, March 11). Pachama recognized as the world’s most innovative AI company of 2021 in fast company’s annual list. GlobeNewswire.         

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/03/11/2191352/0/en/Pachama-Recognized-as-the-World-s-Most-Innovative-AI-Company-of-2021-in-Fast-Company-s-Annual-List.html

(Parisa & Nova, 2021). This AI can see the forest and the trees.     

 https://spectrum.ieee.org/this-ai-can-see-the-forest-and-the-trees 

 

Military drone crashes in Park; no injuries reported. (2021, February 19). Taipei Times.

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2021/02/20/2003752557