CHESTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry contributes more than $130 billion to the state each year, and researchers in Chester County are testing new ways to support farmers and veterinarians by using artificial intelligence to better understand animal behavior.
At the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center, Penn Vet has debuted what it describes as a first-of-its-kind laboratory that uses AI and machine learning to monitor animals. The work includes studying pigs at Penn Vet’s Swine Teaching and Research Center, where researchers are focused on understanding behavior and welfare.
“These are pregnant sows that are in our outdoor area,” said Thomas D. Parsons, director of Penn Vet’s Swine Teaching and Research Center. “So, this is not what you see on a typical farm, but we’re interested in trying to understand more about what these pigs want.”
Traditionally, researchers study the animals by filming them and reviewing the footage frame by frame—a process Parsons called time-consuming…