The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine has launched a new laboratory that uses artificial intelligence to study livestock behavior.
Data, Analytics, and Technology for AI in Livestock Animal Behavior opened May 20 at Penn Veterinarians’ New Bolton Center. The lab is led by Daniel Foy, co-founder and CEO of agricultural technology company Aggregates, and Thomas Parsons, professor of swine production medicine.
In a statement to the Daily Pennsylvanian, Parsons wrote that “DAT-AI-LAB is the central hub for the large-scale data” the team collects to train behavioral models.
“It’s right in our name (DAT-AI-LAB): the data we need, the analysis we need to perform to increase accuracy, and the technology, computing and hardware that powers our AI for livestock animal behavior,” Parsons added.
According to a May 28 press release, DAT-AI-LAB can use data collected and analyzed with the help of AI and machine learning technologies to “make better and timely decisions in critical areas such as animal health and welfare.”
Initially, the lab’s findings will help farmers caring for pigs and dairy animals, but could be expanded to other species.
“Animal behavior remains the most undervalued and underutilized indicator for detecting and diagnosing clinical signs of problems,” Foy wrote in DP. “Our lab aims to build tools that are like the proverbial helmet and pick. Whether the person holding the tools is a farmer or a veterinarian, they can pass them on to industry to unearth new insights, efficiencies, and value.”
In a release, Parsons expressed his belief that the opening of DAT-AI-LAB offers “an incredible opportunity to actually become much more efficient with this new technology” in the “very labor-intensive work of studying animal behavior and trying to understand its impact on animal health, animal welfare, and animal productivity.”
“DAT-AI-LAB is helping us prepare for that future by developing practical distributed AI systems that work where animals are raised and cared for, while training the next generation of veterinarians,” Gary Althouse, associate dean for sustainable agriculture and veterinary practices at Penn State College of Veterinary Medicine, wrote in DP.
DAT-AI-LAB is dedicated to the mission of “advancing digital behavioral intelligence in livestock through objective measurements” and hopes to serve as a “global center of excellence” by “bringing together experts in veterinary medicine, animal behavior, data science, and engineering.”
“We want to make Penn and Philadelphia the world leader in livestock behavioral intelligence,” Foy wrote.
To that end, the team is embracing AI differently than traditional, resource-intensive applications.
“DAT-AI-LAB takes a different approach by bringing AI to farms rather than sending farm data elsewhere for processing,” Parsons wrote. “In practical terms, this means that much of the computing can be done on local equipment, such as laptops in the barn or farm office, without always relying on external processing power.”
In terms of practical applications, Foy said in a letter to DP that the institute’s projects “range from ‘Fitbits’ for animals to computer vision to on-farm renewable energy collection to meet the computational needs of these new tools, all with the intention of eventually making their way to commercial farms.”
The lab was supported by a $31,000 Agricultural Innovation Grant (a state program that “helps farmers and other agricultural businesses adopt new agricultural technology, conservation, and renewable energy innovations”) and a $90,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Center for Poultry and Livestock Excellence, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
The opening of DAT-AI-LAB comes after Penn Vet earlier this year announced plans for a $94 million standalone laboratory (also supported by state funds) and a $17 million education center, both located at the New Bolton Center.
