Teen Developed Amazing AI tool to Predict Ocean Plastic Pollution

Anna Du is a high school student from Massachusetts on a mission to beat toxic plastic pollution in the ocean. She has developed an AI system that studies current movement, temperature, and pressure to predict the location of what she calls “great underwater microplastic patches.” This information is helpful for another amazing invention of hers: a machine designed to search for microplastics on the ocean floor. 

Microplastics are a major issue for marine life and the environment, and Anna’s artificial intelligence system and underwater robot can help identify where they are located in order to better clean them up. Anna’s interest in saving the ocean from plastics pollution has led to her becoming the top-rated female middle schooler in science fairs in the country, as she has placed first in her state science and engineering fair, become a national Broadcom MASTERS finalist twice, and was named a Top Ten Young Scientist in the US, by Discovery Education and 3M.