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Posted: May 31, 2023
Introducing: On the Edge - conversations in the intersection of AI and EO
The community of people in the “borderlands” between AI and EO is growing. I love talking and writing about this emerging field of research, but I can only offer my own perspective. Luckily, I work with a lot of amazing and inspiring people that fit into this intersection of AI and EO in one way or another. “On the Edge” will be a series of conversations with these people. We discuss their experiences and views on the current state and future of AI & ML in EO.
The name “On the Edge” refers to the Karman line, which is often used as a definition of the edge of space. The conversations are on the edge in two ways: on the edge between the two fields, and on the edge of the newest research in an up & coming field! I think interdisciplinary research like this is the future of science: as the problems we tackle become increasingly complex, we need to combine our powers to find new solutions.
In “On the Edge” I want to learn the exciting new ways AI and ML are used to advance EO, but also which challenges people encounter in using ML tools. Maybe a little selfishly, because I want to make ML tools that can be used by EO scientists, but also as a part of a larger discussion on how we can use ML tools safely and sustainably.
Trustworthy AI is a topic that has been in the public’s eye recently, especially with the new EU AI act out now. My research is also partly funded by the TAILOR project, which aims to stimulate the development of Trustworthy AI in Europe. In this day and age of fast currents in AI, I hope that “On the Edge” will be able to both share some more hopeful (instead of scary) AI stories and help us AI researchers develop tools other people can trust.
If you’d like to talk to me about the topic of AI4EO, or know someone I should definitely talk to, get in touch!
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Berend Schuit is my colleague and a PhD candidate at SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, and studies methane as a part of [SRON’s Earth programme](https://earth.sron.nl/thema/methane/). My own research is directly based on the work he has done for methane plume detection. He helped me get up to speed on the challenges associated with detecting methane emissions using machine learning. This means he has loads of experience answering my questions, so I was excited to talk to him!
I spoke to Solomiia Kurchaba, a PhD student at the Leiden Institute for Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), Leiden University. We met when I was still a master’s student. I’m grateful to have Solomiia as a colleague. Especially when I had just started, it was very helpful to learn a bit about the experiences of someone who already works multiple years on ML solutions for EO.
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