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Last November, Change Inc. interviewed Milan Meyberg, founder of Emissary of GAIA. He then won the Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award (MCBA) with his idea of giving nature a voice with AI. Meyberg expressed the expectation that within six months it should be possible to have a conversation with an ecosystem. Six months later, where does that ambition stand?

It has now been about six months since we spoke. So put it this way: is it now possible to have a conversation with an ecosystem?

"Yes indeed. On March 12, I was at the Brightlands event at the Tefaf in Maastricht. There I was allowed to give a demo prior to climate lawyer Roger Cox's keynote. In front of the audience, I had a conversation with GAIA, the avatar that interprets the earth. GAIA answered questions such as: can you describe yourself? What is your function? What are your goals? It was still quite brief, but the conversation showed that the basic principle of speech-to-speech works. What started as an idea a year ago has now become a reality. In addition, at the same event we announced that we will develop an ENVAI (Environmental AI) of the Meuse River, together with the Meuse Cleanup, among others."

Why was the Meuse chosen?

"Actually, the Meuse met all the criteria. First of all, the river has been in the news a lot: floods, pollution and cleanups have caused it to attract a lot of attention. Also, there are many projects and parties involved with the river, think companies, nature organizations, water boards and municipalities. That means we can gather a lot of information around one ENVAI. Finally, there are calls to make the Meuse a legal entity. To connect with this development, I am in contact with Jessica den Outer (lawyer and advocate of nature rights, ed.), among others. Since I am not a lawyer, I always try to be cautious about what this might mean. But I can imagine that in the future it is possible that the Meuse or parts of the river could be given rights that stakeholders would have to comply with. An ENVAI of the Meuse could then also play a role in its own defense."

Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award

The Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award honors the eponymous adventurer and Arctic explorer who died in 2015 while on an expedition in the Canadian Arctic. This award is presented to sustainability pioneers who stand out in connecting leadership and cross-border approach. If you too are not afraid to tread new paths and have an idea for a breakthrough in the field of climate change, food production, mobility, health, energy, materials, raw materials or circular business models, apply here.

  • Deadline application candidates: 14 June 2024
  • The pitches | Brightlands Smart Services Campus: 12 September 2024
  • Award Ceremony | Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus: 10 October 2024

Prize: 35,000 euros | expertise Brightlands campuses | network Brightlands and all associated partners.

In November, you won the MCBA. What did winning this innovation prize get you?

"The most important thing was that my project got the validity and credibility I had hoped for. Suddenly you are in the picture with big companies and leading experts in your field. This was followed by quite a bit of media attention. I am registered with speakers' bureau and quite a few requests came in. I am currently giving weekly lectures and keynotes about my project. And interesting opportunities come out of that. Shortly after winning the MCBA, I also won the Wubbo Ockels Innovation Prize, together with Jessica den Outer. There the seed for an ENVAI for the Maas was planted.

In the meantime, several student teams from Hogeschool ZUYD have also hooked up and will be doing assignments for us for several weeks to make the Maas project possible. And a partnership has been formed with the Discovery Museum. With them, we are aiming for a first pilot in November. Then we want to be able to have a conversation with one of the first prototypes."

And what have you done with the MCBA prize money?

"Obviously, a lot of resources are going into project and software development in particular. In the process, the prize money will be used to make the pilot in November possible."

How do people react when you tell them about GAIA?

"I am of course somewhat biased, but the reactions are almost always positive. People see the potential of the applications. It's really an oh yes moment: 'so that's how you can use AI too.' Of course there are also reluctant reactions or people think it can't work. Then I am always reminded of that famous video from the 1990s in which an interviewer on the street asks people if they would take a cell phone. Nobody needed one, whereas now we cannot imagine a world without one. I am convinced we are going to see conversational-AI in all facets of society, from the kitchen table to the conference table."

AI developments have been moving incredibly fast in recent months. Are there any breakthroughs among them that could potentially play a role for GAIA?

"Definitely! Yesterday (May 13, ed.) OpenAI presented a speech-to-speech upgrade of ChatGPT that can use a camera to perceive emotional reactions. Now that in itself is not new. But this AI can in turn link these signals to its speech output. Thus, an AI can give an "appropriate" response in the form of a critical, disarming or evasive response, for example. The AI thus gains greater empathy so that it can respond to the emotion of its interlocutor. And that, of course, is exactly the connection we hope our ENVAI can make with humans.

Second, there are many developments in the field of memory. First, you could only have limited follow-up conversation with a language model AI. But soon it will be possible to refer months later to a conversation you had at the time. And another development that I find interesting is being made by a party that makes holograms. With these it will be possible to render 3D - but without 3D glasses - a lifelike character. In that respect, it is truly incredible what has become possible in just one year."

What steps can we expect from GAIA soon?

"For now, the focus is on the realization of the pilot in November. Furthermore, I am booked on July 25 at the Love Tomorrow Conference during Tomorrowland. There we are going to make another very big announcement."

Can you give us a hint in advance?

(Smiling:) "It's going to be big. You can't ignore it anymore."

There will be another Marc Cornelissen Brightland Award this year. What would you say to the budding entrepreneur considering entering this year?

"Participating in the MCBA has helped me tremendously to get a certain focus. I applied with 'just' an idea; a concept that was not yet finished, but that I felt had potential. It wasn't a start-up yet, and I didn't have a product or service yet, but thanks to signing up I got in touch with people who also want to see my idea become a reality.

I suddenly realized that others were also reeling from this. That feeling of "I knew it!", motivated me to rapidly develop the idea into a strong concept. Participating in the prize puts you in a certain mindset, and that's exactly what helped me figure out that I want to go all the way for this. Even if you don't win, for that reason alone I would recommend starting entrepreneurs to participate. The fact that winning the MCBA not only has prize money following, but also a strong support network at your disposal, makes it extra powerful to turn the I knew it feeling into a Let's do it."

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