The AI Co-Fly initiative is the latest activity within the citizen science project Melanogaster: Catch the Fly! (MCTF). Its goal is to use artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically identify and classify Drosophila species collected in the field with greater accuracy.
AI Co-Fly App will engage students and teachers from rural areas in the training of an AI algorithm, introducing them to fundamental machine learning techniques while fostering an understanding of taxonomy, biodiversity conservation, and the role of AI in monitoring the impacts of climate change.
As part of this initiative, educational workshops such as “From Field to Algorithms: Taxonomy, AI, Citizen Science, and Biodiversity”, will be offered to emphasize the importance of taxonomy in citizen science and to demonstrate how artificial intelligence can advance biodiversity research.
The ultimate objective of AI Co-Fly is to develop an image-recognition-based AI system that will help MCTF participants more efficiently identify and classify Drosophila species collected in the field. This activity aims to integrate knowledge of technology, current environmental challenges, and taxonomy in studying population genetics related to climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation.
The project’s methodology includes developing an app to classify flies using computer vision models trained on a database of Drosophila images collected by citizen scientists. The app will feature a user-friendly interface that allows users to take photos and receive preliminary species identifications. Images will be labeled and validated by the citizen science team, and public participation in the labeling process will further enhance the model’s accuracy.
The design, development, and implementation of the AI Co-Fly App and activities will be led by the Sci-Comm Association La Ciència Al Teu Món (LCATM), and the Evolutionary and Functional Genomics Laboratory of the Institut Botànic de Barcelona (CSIC – CMCNB) in collaboration with the InsectAI COST ACTION 22129 (Using Image-based AI for Insect Monitoring & Conservation), Department of Genetics and Microbiology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). MCTF also has the collaboration of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology – Ministry of Science and Innovation (FECYT), the European Consortium for Drosophila Population Genomics (DrosEU).
