Using AI to Find ET
Growing astronomical datasets can analyzed by machine learning, potentially identifying new signals
A universe of data
We are — according to some sources — living in the age of data. More and more aspects of our lives are encoded, encrypted, and informationally exploited.
The data growth is not limited to our lives — including our brain and our genes. Or even limited to our planet. The universe itself is bursting with data, ready to be explored.
Recent efforts in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) are collecting that data, searching for signals, for any signal that might potentially signify something more than ‘natural’ phenomena (even though one could make the argument that the natural vs artificial dichotomy is spurious, but that is an entirely different discussion).
These astronomical datasets are not easy to analyze, though. For one, they’re huge — astronomically huge (sorry about that one). They also contain many different ‘types’ of data (light spectra, radio frequencies, gravity signatures…).
Time for machine learning, methinks.
SETI, meet AI
With better detection technologies it has quickly become clear that handling those…
