Malaysian illustrator builds AI tool to encourage others to get to know nature

Malaysian illustrator builds AI tool to encourage others to get to know nature

2023-07-31

A Malaysian immigrant in Taiwan has dedicated herself to helping others find their love of nature. Chang Shie Khim and her husband built an AI tool that can identify sea creatures, based on their decades of experience exploring Taiwan’s coast. Their tool helps beachcombers work out what species they have found. Chang also illustrates storybooks based on the healing power of nature, drawing on stories from childhood. All of her work revolves around her reverence for the earth, and her longing for humans to help keep ecosystems delicately balanced.

Malaysian immigrant Chang Shie Khim loves to come to the seaside to search for creatures washed up by the tide, accompanied by her husband, biologist Chen Yang-wen.

The ocean has been changing for many years. We see the rising tide of ocean waste, but we don’t see the gradual disappearance of marine species. Chang and Chen have created an AI identification database for the tidal species that they have been observing for the last 20 years.

They turn their camera onto the sea creatures they find, and the identification system can immediately produce the name of the species onscreen. So far the database can recognize almost 200 tidal species. The couple believe that only by becoming sensitive to the distinctions of nature will we learn to care for the ocean and the earth.

Chang Shie Khim
Malaysian immigrant
Although Taiwan is an island, many people don’t know the ocean. Maybe helping people get to know the ocean is a way to inspire them to love and protect it. The technology that distinguishes them is quite interesting.

Chang’s other life is her career as a storybook illustrator. Her books revolve around memories of her childhood home, such as the time when she and her father planted a rambutan tree. She also tells the story of the migration that she made together with her mother and grandmother. Her third book is about the taste of home: a wild herb feast.

Chang Shie Khim
Malaysian immigrant
The wild herbs, as the name implies, were the plants from the forest in our hometown. Tropical rainforests are gradually vanishing, so we also want to wake people up to pay attention to issues in the natural environment.

Chang’s creative projects continue. She has lots of stories to tell about the forests of her childhood, and her adventures with the creatures from the sea, and hopes her love for nature will inspire others to cherish the beauty that is around us.

This story was provided by the program "We Are Family"
Funded by New Immigrant Development Fund

關心環境喜歡海洋大馬作家創AI辨識資料庫

2023-07-31

AI是最近很熱門的話題，來自馬來西亞的曾詩琴，常常和家人到海邊觀察潮間帶生物，現在也利用AI的特性建立了潮間帶的辨識資料庫，除此之外他也是一位繪本作家，希望透過各種面向喚起大家對於呵護海洋環境的意識，守護地球。

她是來自馬來西亞的曾詩琴，喜歡和學生物的先生陳楊文一起來到海邊，探索潮間帶生物。

多年下來，海洋生態起了變化，可見的是海洋垃圾，不可見的是海洋物種漸漸地減少，曾詩琴與陳楊文將這20年來觀察到的潮間帶生物，建立AI辨識資料庫。

將手機鏡頭對準看到的海洋生物，辨識系統就會自動顯示這小生物的名稱，目前這套系統可以辨識將近兩百種潮間帶生物，夫妻倆相信，唯有認識海洋，才能呵護海洋，進而守護地球。

[[馬來西亞新住民曾詩琴]]
"雖然台灣是個島嶼，但是很多人不認識海洋，藉由認識來去帶動人們去愛護海洋的話，也許是一個方法，辨識的這個技術是蠻有趣的"

曾詩琴的另一個身份，是繪本創作家，她的創作圍繞在自己與家鄉的記憶，有童年時期和爸爸一起種的紅毛丹樹，也有描述自己、母親與外婆遷徙的故事，第三本繪本，也是家鄉的滋味，野菜盛宴。

[[馬來西亞新住民曾詩琴]]
"顧名思義野菜，就是來自我們故鄉的森林植物，因為熱帶雨林也逐漸在消失，所以也是想要喚起人們對於自然環境議題的注意"

接下來，曾詩琴還是會繼續創作，說說她的家鄉，她與海洋的故事，希望大家能夠更珍惜現在擁有的一切。

以上內容由《我們一家人》節目提供內政部移民署監製

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This sounds pretty terrifying. How concerned is the White House?

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Well they’re pretty concerned, Paula. And there have been a lot of meetings taking place in the Situation Room about this.

A Chinese malware campaign is raising alarms in Washington. According to the New York Times, China has hidden computer code in networks controlling the power grids, communications systems, and water supplies of military bases in the U.S. and around the world. This could allow hackers to disrupt or delay U.S. military operations in the event of a conflict, such as a Chinese attack on Taiwan.

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This also comes at a time that China has ramped up threats against Taiwan, which President Biden has vowed to defend. Obviously, not a coincidence, right?

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Not a coincidence, we think. We don’t know that this is entirely about Taiwan, but clearly partly about it.

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It could create chaos in the physical world from the virtual realm of information. That’s the first thing. Second, it could cut off or confuse the U.S. military communications and battlefield management. Third, such results could affect the physical world, reducing the accuracy of U.S. troop reinforcement to Taiwan and firepower strikes. So many such instances of CCP hack attacks have been found.

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There are 3,000 injuries or deaths every year, and more than 1,000 people are left paralyzed.

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Sugar painter Chen Wen-pin pours sugar crystals into the pan and adds water.

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