New AI tools are helping determine if your dog is happy
Do you need a machine to help you determine if you’re happy? Probably not, but when it comes to getting a sense of how our pets feel, it can be helpful. And some new breakthroughs, leveraging AI technology, are helping researchers figure out if animals are, in fact, feeling fine.
You’ve likely heard of facial recognition systems, which can scan and identify specific features of our faces to narrow down our identities. They’re typically used in airports, or for other security measures. Well, that same sort of technology is now being utilized on farms, in research labs, and even in some select veterinary clinics, all in an effort to not only identify animals, but to figure out how they’re feeling.
As detailed in a recent article in the journal Science, researchers are using AI tech to analyze facial expressions for different types of animals, and can then determine if they are expressing any signs of pain or distress—signs that we, with the naked eye, might be missing.
That includes our pets, like dogs. Scientists have found that we share around 40% of our facial movements and expressions with dogs, so there may be some similarities in how we express pain or displeasure. Using that as a starting point, and pairing what we know with technology, we can now use some advanced tools to pick up on emotional signs from animals, which could have practical uses in clinical settings.
In short: In the near future, it’s not unreasonable to think that you could bring your dog into a veterinary office, the pet’s face is scanned, and signs of distress are picked up—even if the veterinarian or owner missed them.
Again, it’s hard to tell what’s going on with our pets sometimes. Often, it’s obvious. But other times? They may be in pain, and we’re running around, unaware. Trying to get them to go for a walk, or wondering why they’re not eating their food. There could be something else going on, and new technology may help us suss that out.
As for how it’s been developed? The good old-fashioned way: By feeding an AI system a ton of images to train it. That training helps with the creation of algorithms, which can then lean on that training to identify worrisome or troubling signs in an animal’s facial expressions. This has been in the works for many years, too, with some researchers having started almost a decade ago.
It’s fairly accurate, too. Some of these AI models have a near-80% success rate at determining whether an animal is in pain. However, at the end of the day, a human is going to need to read the results of the AI’s work, determine if there’s something that warrants more investigation, and proceed from there. So, all of this is not foolproof.
As for whether you should expect to see these types of tech in your local veterinarian’s office soon? Probably not, but it’s not crazy to think that they will eventually be in widespread use. These tools may even be packaged in a consumer-facing app one day, and be able to be used with a smartphone. Who knows?
For now, though, it’s a marvel that we’re able to utilize technology and AI to focus on some of the things that really matter. Like our pets’ welfare!
Contact us to make an appointment today!
Read more: