Fun Fact

15 February 2024

Video above: Watch a short video about the development of the BMSB AI app.

AI is helping biosecurity officers across the Tasman save Australia from stink bugs.

CSIRO (Australia’s National Science Agency) and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry are working together to help ensure correct identification of stink bugs – particularly the potentially devastating Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) – by using AI in an app used by frontline officers.

They’ve taken detailed digital images of the thousands of specimens of expertly identified species of Australian and exotic stink bugs in the national insect collection, then trained AI models to recognise BMSB and tell it apart from similar looking species.

The prototype has been tested at ports and airports around Australia and it’s now in further development so that it ca be integrated into standard data infrastructure.

There is also a new AI model being worked on that can identify priority weed seeds.

Through projects like this science and technology come together to make sure biosecurity systems meet future challenges – that’s exciting and something we’re keeping a close eye on!