AI system identifies smuggled marine wildlife in airport luggage
Researchers have trained an artificial intelligence algorithm to detect seahorses, shark fins and sea cucumbers hidden in luggage using standard airport X-ray machines. The system correctly identified these samples 92 percent of the time in a study published this week in Frontiers in Ocean Sustainability.
Wildlife trafficking generates roughly $20 billion annually worldwide, according to INTERPOL. Marine species-including sea cucumbers, seahorses and shark fins-are frequently smuggled through airports for sale as food or for purported medicinal uses. Most of these products go undetected by customs enforcement.
Scientists at Macquarie University trained the algorithm on hundreds of three-dimensional X-ray images of 68 dried samples. The system achieved a false positive rate of about 13 percent.
Next steps for deployment
Vanessa Pirotta, the lead researcher, said the algorithm aims to "build our detection capacity" without replacing manual inspection or biosecurity dogs. "X-ray imaging enables us to look in and around luggage and mail items-this means we can use this tech to understand how people may change their trafficking efforts over time," she said.
Pirotta plans to deploy a working version of the system at airports. "The next step is working toward making these algorithms active at front lines around the world-this is likely to help fill those gaps regarding occurrence and support enforcement efforts," she said.
Researchers interested in applying AI to wildlife protection and enforcement work may find value in exploring AI for Science & Research training resources.
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