AI environment technologies continue to evolve, enabling innovative applications in conservation. ChimpFace, a cutting edge facial recognition platform, targets the escalating online ape trafficking, providing crucial support to wildlife protection agencies and law enforcement bodies.
Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in its use within social media, is both a boon and a bane. Elsewhere on Happy Eco News, we report on various initiatives using the AI environment as a tool to help conservationists do their work. But, as reported by Mongabay, the dual nature of AI becomes evident in the case of wildlife trafficking. While traffickers exploit social media platforms and AI algorithms to expand their illicit networks and advertise endangered species, conservationists and law enforcement agencies are harnessing the same technology to combat this growing menace.
Emerging at the forefront of this technological fight against illegal wildlife trade is ChimpFace. This novel software utilises AI facial recognition algorithms to examine and match chimpanzee faces in images posted by wildlife traffickers and those subsequently appearing on social media accounts. The identification of these matches could serve as crucial evidence, assisting Interpol and local law enforcement in tracking and prosecuting individuals engaged in illegal wildlife commerce.
The global proliferation of social media has rendered a convenient platform for wildlife traffickers to reach potential buyers worldwide. Inadvertently, AI-driven recommendation algorithms employed by platforms like Facebook and Instagram have aided traffickers in their pursuits, by suggesting contacts and groups that facilitate the expansion of their nefarious networks.
However, the potential of AI environment technologies is not limited to detrimental uses. AI has proved instrumental in various facets of law enforcement and conservation. Its applications range from identifying patterns and objects in data to detect illicit activities such as sex trafficking to using biometric markers for facial recognition in digital images. In the realm of conservation, AI can monitor land-use changes and even identify individual animals based on their distinctive body markings. Particularly in species like chimpanzees, our closest extant relatives, AI has demonstrated efficiency in tracking and identifying individual faces.
Allie Russo, a conservationist with expertise in data analysis, leads the project ChimpFace. Recognizing the potential of AI in combating ape trafficking, Russo strives to employ this technology in conservation efforts.
Chimpanzees, especially the juvenile ones with their endearing, wide-eyed expressions, are highly sought after in the illicit wildlife trade. However, the grim reality behind this demand is a heavy toll on wild populations, as multiple chimpanzees often perish for every young ape that reaches a buyer alive.
The United Nations’ Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) estimates an alarming trafficking figure of approximately 3,000 great apes annually from Africa and Southeast Asia. The process of trafficking has transitioned heavily online. Traffickers typically post images of baby chimpanzees for sale, and these chimpanzees often reappear on the buyer’s social media account. Manual comparison of these images is a laborious process, and alternative methods of gathering evidence, such as DNA analysis, are complex and expensive.
Addressing this challenge, ChimpFace uses AI to determine if the chimpanzee faces in trafficker-posted images match with those appearing later on social media accounts. If the software detects a match, it serves as corroborative evidence tracing the sale and destination of the trafficked chimpanzee.
The development of ChimpFace was bolstered by Conservation X Labs, an organization dedicated to devising high-tech solutions for conservation issues. Russo’s collaboration with Colin McCormick, a technical advisor at Conservation X Labs, led to the training of a computer program using thousands of images of baby chimpanzees. McCormick manually annotated the faces within these images, similar to human facial recognition programs, thereby refining the algorithm to accurately identify a baby chimpanzee’s face in a picture.
While the software is still in its nascent testing phase, it promises a wealth of actionable information for law enforcement bodies. ChimpFace currently scans only publicly available images. Despite this limitation, developers are hopeful, as many traffickers openly advertise their illicit goods. They anticipate that ChimpFace will provide a new form of evidence, confirming the illegal capture and sale of individual apes.
Recently, ChimpFace forged a partnership with Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection (LCRP), thereby augmenting the application of the software. Sanctuaries like LCRP, which on average receive one new chimpanzee a month, are critical, providing a safe haven for rescued animals. Russo envisages scaling up ChimpFace to include additional target species threatened by illegal online trafficking, such as tigers, lions, and gibbons.
