Reflections from the Workshop on AI-Assisted Decision Making for Conservation

TL;DR

This white paper summarizes discussions from a workshop on AI-assisted decision making in conservation, emphasizing open research questions, challenges, and the need for collaborative, novel AI methods to address biodiversity preservation.

Contribution

It synthesizes expert insights from a recent workshop, highlighting key open questions and advocating for interdisciplinary collaboration to advance AI in conservation.

Findings

Identification of key open research questions in conservation AI

Highlighting the need for novel methodological advances

Call for collaborative efforts among ecologists, decision-makers, and AI researchers

Abstract

In this white paper, we synthesize key points made during presentations and discussions from the AI-Assisted Decision Making for Conservation workshop, hosted by the Center for Research on Computation and Society at Harvard University on October 20-21, 2022. We identify key open research questions in resource allocation, planning, and interventions for biodiversity conservation, highlighting conservation challenges that not only require AI solutions, but also require novel methodological advances. In addition to providing a summary of the workshop talks and discussions, we hope this document serves as a call-to-action to orient the expansion of algorithmic decision-making approaches to prioritize real-world conservation challenges, through collaborative efforts of ecologists, conservation decision-makers, and AI researchers.