Technology to find shipwrecks using AI

Scientists can now use AI technology to detect archaeological sites on land as well as underwater.

The US Navy is carrying out a project to scan and find shipwrecks on the seabed using artificial intelligence. According to Leila Character, a graduate student in geography at the University of Texas who is in charge of the program, the most important thing is to teach computers how to recognize shipwrecks on the ocean floor from scans taken by aircraft and ships. perform.

This computer has an accuracy of up to 92% when searching for shipwrecks that have identified names. The project is concentrated on the coasts of the US and Puerto Rico. Now the technology is about to be put to use to search for unidentified shipwrecks and in unmapped waters.

The first step to creating a model of a shipwreck is to teach the computer what the ships look like. In addition, it is important to teach computers to distinguish between shipwrecks and seabed topography.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maintains a public database of shipwrecks, collected from around the world, including sonar and seabed images. Take for example the image below: the area is 14 miles (23 km) offshore and 279 feet (85 m) deep, with few wrecks on the seabed.

Searching for wrecks is a very important step in understanding the trade routes, migrations and wars in human history. But the search and archeology of shipwrecks under the sea is dangerous and expensive. Artificial intelligence technology makes it possible for both Leila and the scientists to map the search in less time and reduce the danger of salvage by unmanned submarines or divers.

The US Navy is interested in this technology because it can help them find unidentified shipwrecks. More broadly, this could be a new method in the field of underwater archeology, including buildings, statues and aircraft that have been lying on the seabed since ancient times.

This project is a model that applies high technology in archeology to identify shipwrecks in an area as large as the coast of the continental United States. Using AI technology and drones, scientists can search for shipwrecks without the danger of before.

Leila said she and her colleagues wanted to add data on shipwrecks from around the world into this model. This helps archaeological technology to better identify the wrecks. They also want the US Navy to salvage the ships that have been discovered to test the accuracy of this search technology.

In the future, she and other scientists will develop this technology so that it can be used for land and sea archeology in parts of the world. They are also testing the search model in caves in Maya, Mexico and catacombs in Romania.