Science Association seeks adoption of AI in research

The Nigerian Association of Geodesy (NAG) has called for the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in solving geodesy problems and research.

This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the 2024 Nigerian Association of Geodesy (NAG) Scientific Conference and General Assembly on Saturday in Bauchi State, Northwest Nigeria.

The communiqué was read by the President of the association, Timothy Idowu, with the theme “Decision Support Systems and Geodetic Applications for National Development in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

According to the association, AI is an important tool for enhancing research, development and innovation.

“Integration of geodesy with AI can be of immense benefit in the areas of positioning, dynamic determination of geoid, prediction of various anomalous bodies within the earth, study of celestial bodies, agriculture, education, business and healthcare, amongst others.

“AI has the ability to handle and process large amounts of geospatial data. Geodetic information is vital for infrastructural development for better nation-building,” it said.

The communiqué said the adoption of AI techniques in research and solving geodetic problems should be widely encouraged in the country. Also, the adoption of integrated geodesy and AI techniques should be used for geodetic/geophysical studies to curb insecurity and other geodetic applications.

NAG reiterated the need and importance of including AI and its subsets, such as machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and others, in the curriculum of surveying and geo-informatics.

“The teaching of geodesy, using AI and its subsets, should be more directed to solving real-life societal problems and practical applications rather than dwelling only on theories.

“More awareness about geodesy is needed to attract more people into the field of geodesy, considering the potential of AI and machine learning.

“It is expected that the technology should be used to improve the accuracy and precision of geodetic observations; relevant government agencies should give priority to geodesy and geodetic products.”

NAN/Chidimma Gold