Hey Crows, could you please pick up the trash ?
By: Rohan Kumar K
Tags: Urban Planning, Birds, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision

Densely populated urban areas not only attracts people seeking better job opportunities but also some of our avian friends. Could these friends help us in keeping our cities clean ?

With advancements in artificial intelligence — computer vision and detailed study of bird behavior we might get some help from our avian friends.

But why can’t humans clean up their own garbage ?

Have we become so lazy that we can’t pick our own garbage. This argument could be pursued further so as a society we educate and maintain healthy standards in terms of urban cleanliness. In reality the current densely populated areas are hugely chaotic and there is always scope for improvement in terms of urban cleanliness. Cleaning robots could be one answer in the future, but the question is could we get help from our curious avian friends.

Crows trained to pick up trash to teach humans a lesson

There are many examples from around the world where crows are trained to pickup trash for certain rewards like food. Could this behavior replicated across cities by designing a automated rewarding system for the crows ? The rewards could range from water, food to engaging in playful activities in exchange for waste deposited. The idea is the bird would pick up the waste like plastic bottle caps from public areas and deposit it to the dustbins.

Could crows help solve some of the urban cleanliness issues ?

Crows are considered smartest animal other than primates , and are attracted towards densely populated urban areas where garbage is often found littered around due to human negligence. Crows are often known to engage in activities beyond survival. Hence could automated and intelligent systems be designed to attract crows by rewarding their natural curiosity in exchange for helping keep the cities clean ? A more in-depth behavioral study to design such a rewarding mechanism could help support urban cleanliness.

The artificial intelligence ( AI) garbage pursuit

There are many initiatives under artificial intelligence projects to accurately detect and classify garbage and we may have have intelligent computer vision systems which can accurately identify , classify garbage. Hence coupling this garbage identification process with rewarding system design could successfully engage our avian friends in helping keep our cities clean.

Could other animals help in the pursuit ?

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

The possibility of including crows in the urban cleanliness program opens up a question of inclusion of other relatively intelligent animals like seagulls . Could seagulls help with sea pollution clean up efforts ? Although behavioral pattern of birds differ vastly there could be a possibility to engage these birds for suitable rewards in return with the help in clean up efforts at the shores.

Conclusion

The urban landscape is not just inhabited by humans but many animals play an active part of this eco-system. Hence considering these animals as a possibility to help keep cities clean could be a worth pursuit leveraging latest innovations in artificial intelligence like computer vision and coupling this with an accurate animal behavioral model.