For these shipwreck-hunting humans, AI is part of the crew

Very few people get paid to visit shipwrecks—but for Stephanie Gandulla, it’s all part of the job. Stephanie is a scuba diver, maritime archeologist, and resource protection coordinator for the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The agency safeguards Lake Huron’s historic shipwrecks, many of which have yet to be discovered. That’s where Katie Skinner comes in. She’s an assistant professor at the University of Michigan and the director of the school’s Field Robotics Group. Skinner and her team have been developing autonomous underwater vehicles that can find new shipwreck sites, all on their own. For humans, a search is costly, time-consuming, manual work. But for AI? Skinner thinks it could help us find answers in a snap. 


On this episode, Stephanie and Katie talk about using AI to find shipwrecks in a literal lake of data, so that they can spend less time searching and more time exploring—as only humans can do.


You can learn more about some of the people and projects featured in this episode, including… 

• The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary at thunderbay.noaa.gov (https://thunderbay.noaa.gov/)
• Katie Skinner and the University of Michigan’s Field Robotics Group at fieldrobotics.engin.umich.edu (https://fieldrobotics.engin.umich.edu/)
• Previous efforts to autonomously map Thunder Bay’s historical shipwrecks at theverge.com/2020/3/5/21157791/drone-autonomous-boat-ben-shipwreck-alley-unh-noaa-great-lakes-thunder-bay (https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/5/211...)

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This show would not be possible without the talented team at Cosmic Standard (https://www.cosmicstandard.fm/) : producer Dominic Girard (https://www.handover.fm/) , sound engineer Aja Simpson, technical director Jacob Winik, and executive producer Eliza Smith. Special thanks to our illustrators Justin Tran (https://iamjustintran.com/) and Fanny Luor (https://fannyluor.com/) , marketing consultant Meggan Ellingboe (https://meggane.co/) , and editorial support from Catie Keck. Our theme song was composed by Doug Stuart (  / dougiestu  ) . Working Smarter is hosted by Matthew Braga. Thanks for listening!