Tree-hugging AI to the rescue of Brazilian Amazon

Small, artificially intelligent boxes called "curupiras" being used in the Brazilian Amazon as a new tool for scientists and environmentalists in their fight against destructive jungle invaders.

The device utilizes artificial intelligence to recognize the sounds of chainsaws, tractors, or any other potential causes of deforestation, as mentioned by project manager Thiago Almeida. Unlike satellite data, which reveal deforestation only after the fact, the device can detect "when the destruction starts," he added.

The sensors look like small internet modems but are in fact wireless and can relay data up to one kilometer via satellite to others in a network. The project has just completed its pilot phase with ten prototype boxes fixed to trees in a densely forested area near Manaus, the capital city of Brazil's northern Amazonas state.