AI-controlled machines equipped with chilli pepper spray could reduce confrontations between bears and people. But the animals may learn to avoid these machines and simply head to homes and rubbish dumps without them.
Incidents between people and Tibetan brown bears (Ursus arctos pruinosus), also known as Tibetan blue bears, on the Tibetan Plateau are escalating, perhaps at least partly due to . This could result in bears killing livestock and damaging property, or even severe injuries or fatalities for bears or humans.
In an effort to solve the problem, at Wuhan University in China and his colleagues have created a machine that uses AI to identify bears and spray them with an unpleasant, but safe, concoction of 5 per cent capsaicin, the chemical that gives chilli peppers their heat, and up to 2 per cent menthol.
Advertisement
The researchers trained their AI model on more than 1000 images of local wildlife, of which over 600 were photographs featuring bears. Yaks, antelopes and even people were also featured, but the model was trained to target only bears.
The researchers then designed a device that included the spray, a camera, a small computer to run the AI model, a 1-watt solar panel and a 11,000-milliamp-hour lithium battery, which could run without charging or maintenance for up to 30 days. When activated by the computer, the spray could hit bears at distances of up to 13 metres.
In tests, the scientists found that 91.4 per cent of the time that the machine 鈥� which costs just over 拢50 to make 鈥� identified a bear, there was actually a bear; meanwhile, 93.6 per cent of the time that there was a bear present, the machine identified it.
There was also a 1.8 per cent chance of a person being accidentally sprayed when walking within range of the device. The researchers did not respond to a request for comment, but in their paper write that adding infrared sensors or acoustic sensors could improve the model鈥檚 accuracy.
, who runs a group focused on bears at the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, says that the idea is sound but could have a limited effect in the long term. 鈥淏ears are very smart, and I鈥檓 sure that a bear sprayed once will never come near one of these devices again,鈥� he says. But they will probably still visit the general area and just avoid the machine itself, says Garshelis.
He says that the project reminds him of US park rangers shooting bears with rubber bullets to keep them away from people, which worked up to a point. 鈥淭he bears learned to stay away from people in uniforms carrying guns, but recognised that there was no danger of other people,鈥� says Garshelis.
arXiv
