Jeppe Rasmussen: AI in the wild – How Neural Networks Help Us Understand Our World Through Sound

Bioacoustics, the study of nature’s sounds, has long been a powerful tool for studying wildlife. With the rise of artificial intelligence, particularly deep learning, the potential of this field has expanded dramatically. By applying advanced AI algorithms to bioacoustic data, researchers can now identify and monitor species with greater accuracy, even in environments where visual observation is difficult, such as dense forests or deep oceans.

This capability is especially critical as we face the sixth mass extinction. AI-enhanced monitoring offers new hope for conservation by providing deeper insights into the presence, behavior, and well-being of endangered species. Beyond detection, AI also opens doors to understanding animal communication and emotional states, thanks to its ability to autonomously identify and prioritize key acoustic features.

In this talk, I will present a series of case studies spanning multiple species and ecosystems to illustrate how cutting‑edge AI research can meaningfully advance our understanding of the living, complex world around us—and how these methods can help mitigate the biodiversity crisis we face and discover the surprisingly rich inner life of the animals surrounding us.

Jeppe Have Rasmussen received his PhD in bioacoustics from the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in 2018 and has since worked at the intersection of bioacoustics and artificial intelligence in Germany, the USA, and Norway.

His research spans a wide range of species—from farm animals such as pigs to marine mammals like whales—and he was featured in the documentary "If Pigs Could Talk," recently broadcast across Europe, including Sweden.

2024 he published an article in Science exploring how AI and bioacoustics can revolutionize the monitoring of animal populations. He is currently based at the University of Copenhagen working on detecting and classifying vocalizations from narwhales in Greenland.