MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS/. Scientists start using artificial intelligence to assess potential risks to flora and fauna in the Arctic, the MIREA University's representative Andrey Rybnikov told TASS.

Machine vision algorithms identify pollution areas and generate environmental risk maps in real time by analyzing satellite and aerial images of the Kara and Barents Seas, he said.

"Another actively developing approach is predictive ecology. By combining data from satellites, ice buoys and autonomous sensors, AI helps simulate the coastline destructions, monitor ice melting, and assess potential risks to flora and fauna. For scientists, this means turning from post-factum observations to understanding how the natural system changes over time and why," the expert said.

The Arctic Team student expeditionary force plans using AI during the new season to analyze chemical and biological samples and images from drones in protected areas of the White and Barents Seas, as well as to identify pollution sources.

"In the Arctic ecology, the main value of AI is not in replacing humans, but in the ability to see what is there behind the data. Technology makes it possible to move from observation to understanding, from recording consequences to forecasting and prevention. This is a new type of interaction between science and nature, where the algorithm becomes the researcher's partner, not an understudy," he explained.