Google has partnered with marine biologist Steve Simpson and marine ecologist Mary Shodipo to launch a new project aimed at repopulating coral reefs. The project, a Google Arts & Culture experiment called “Calling in our Corals”, is asking the public to help train artificial intelligence (AI) to recognise aquatic wildlife sounds, with the hope that the AI can be used to automate conservation efforts. Climate change, overfishing, and pollution have caused coral reefs to decline at an alarming rate. The high water temperatures caused by climate change cause coral to release symbiotic algae that make them more prone to disease and death. The rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere also acidify the ocean, further damaging the reefs.
