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posted by CoolHand on Monday October 08 2018, @05:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the Open-the-pod-bay-doors-HAL dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Artificial intelligence in space exploration is gathering momentum. Over the coming years, new missions look likely to be turbo-charged by AI as we voyage to comets, moons, and planets and explore the possibilities of mining asteroids.

AI is already a game-changer that has made scientific research and exploration much more efficient. We are not just talking about a doubling but about a multiple of ten, Leopold Summerer, Head of the Advanced Concepts and Studies Office at ESA, said in an interview with Singularity Hub.

The history of AI and space exploration is older than many probably think. It has already played a significant role in research into our planet, the solar system, and the universe. As computer systems and software have developed, so have AI's potential use cases.

The Earth Observer 1 (EO-1) satellite is a good example. Since its launch in the early 2000s, its onboard AI systems helped optimize analysis of and response to natural occurrences, like floods and volcanic eruptions. In some cases, the AI was able to tell EO-1 to start capturing images before the ground crew were even aware that the occurrence had taken place.

Other satellite and astronomy examples abound. Sky Image Cataloging and Analysis Tool (SKICAT) has assisted with the classification of objects discovered during the second Palomar Sky Survey, classifying thousands more objects caught in low resolution than a human would be able to. Similar AI systems have helped astronomers to identify 56 new possible gravitational lenses that play a crucial role in connection with research into dark matter.

[...] As is often the case with exponential technologies, there is a great potential for synergies and convergence. For example with AI and robotics, or quantum computing and machine learning. Why not send an AI-driven robot to Mars and use it as a telepresence for scientists on Earth? It could be argued that we are already in the early stages of doing just that by using VR and AR systems that take data from the Mars rovers and create a virtual landscape scientists can walk around in and make decisions on what the rovers should explore next.

One of the biggest benefits of AI in space exploration may not have that much to do with its actual functions. Chew believes that within as little as ten years, we could see the first mining of asteroids in the Kuiper Belt with the help of AI.

I think one of the things that AI does to space exploration is that it opens up a whole range of new possible industries and services that have a more immediate effect on the lives of people on Earth, he said. "It becomes a relatable industry that has a real effect on people's daily lives. In a way, space exploration becomes part of people's mindset, and the border between our planet and the solar system becomes less important."


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @04:48AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @04:48AM (#746285)

    MOND's answer isn't actually accurate

    Are you questioning the data and fit I shared?

  • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:31AM (1 child)

    by Immerman (3985) on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:31AM (#746297)

    You didn't share any data, just a graph without any details and some ferociously wide error bars.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @11:25AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @11:25AM (#746378)

      Obviously you didnt follow the earlier link to the blog post the figure came from, so meh... your loss.