Summary reader response draft #3

Summary: 

According to the article “A Little Robot That Cleans the Beach, One Butt at a Time” (2021), Gonderman explained how beaches can be kept cigarette litter-free with the use of BeachBot (BB). BB is a battery-powered Artificial Intelligence (AI) robot created by Edwin Bos and Martijn Lukaart. It uses two claws to pick up cigarette butts and disposes them into its internal storage before someone discards them. BB first launched in September 2020 on World Cleanup Day at Scheveningen Beach where it picked up "10 cigarette butts in 30 minutes”. BeachBot is essential as “chemicals and microplastic from cigarette butts” are toxic to sea creatures due to the reaction between seawater and cigarettes, which causes it to release a load of chemical compounds into the sea. Therefore, BeachBot aims to protect marine life by reducing water pollution. Gonderman also reported that “by training its image-detection algorithm”, BeachBot can identify more pictures of cigarette butts and grasp what to look for. To aid BB in its search for cigarette butts, TechTics are working on creating little associate robots that will recognize cigarette butts and inform BB. BeachBot not only influences the public to stop littering but also hopes to educate children on the importance of cleanliness so that everyone can relish clean sand. The author hopes that “AI robot technology” can be the future of a clean and cigarette litter-free environment through the advancement of BeachBot and its companions.


Gonderman explained how beaches can be kept cigarette litter-free with the use of BeachBot (BB). Artificial Intelligence is going to impact greatly on future generations by tackling pressing environmental challenges such as reducing litter on beaches and parks by having robots like BeachBot to aid in cleaning up. Cigarette butts affect the environment greatly as they can cause marine pollution or pose a risk to animals’ health if they had mistaken it for food. The 3 reasons why BeachBot will be advantageous in the future is its ability to aid in reducing marine pollution, protect marine life and educate younger generations at the same time.

One reason why BeachBot will help in reducing marine pollution is that cigarette butts are the main source of pollution in the sea and oceans. According to Rainey (2018), cigarette butts are a more harmful source of pollution compared to plastic and for 32 consecutive years, they are the most collected waste on the world’s beaches with a total of more than 60 million cigarette litter picked up over those 32 years. Cigarette butts thrown on beaches can easily find their way into rivers, seas, and oceans. Many do not realize that a single cigarette butt can pollute up to 500 liters of water and the impact of this waste globally on water resources are catastrophic.

Another reason why BeachBot will be advantageous is it can aid in protecting marine life. Despite cigarette butts being dropped on the land, many of them will eventually be swept into the ocean. When cigarette butts are in the water, they release toxic chemicals that pose a risk to the health of marine animals. With these toxic objects floating in the water, they can be mistaken for food by the wildlife with research showing that cigarette filters have been discovered in 70 percent of seabirds and 30 percent of sea turtles. According to Hahn(2019), “with 4.5 trillion cigarette filters littered every year, a single one is capable of killing fish in a stream”. Cigarette filters are affecting a large portion of life on the planet, reducing litter is the key to protecting them.

The last reason why BeachBot will impact the future generation is the production of BeachBot not only helps with picking up cigarette wastes, but it can also educate children by teaching them to pick up and dispose of any form of litter found. According to Perucica (2022), Parents will be able to rely on AI robots as an example in teaching their children and developing critical thinking skills. There is no doubt that in the future, AI will change the way children interact with their surroundings such as learning, playing, and developing environment. 

However, the disadvantage of BeachBot is its speed in detecting cigarette butts and cleaning up. During World Cleanup Day at Scheveningen Beach in September 2020 where BeachBot debuted, it only managed to pick up 10 cigarette butts in 30 minutes. According to Beachapedia (2022), there were a total of 5,716,331 cigarette butts picked up during the international coastal clean-up in 2019. Compared to humans, BeachBot works at a very slow speed which may result in using a high amount of battery just to pick up a few cigarette butt’s litters. To clean up more efficiently, more BeachBots need to be put in place which could also result in high costs.

In conclusion, reducing the waste caused by cigarettes should be the main priority as the effects of cigarette litter in the ocean and on marine life are critical. With the advancement of AI robots, there is hope that in the future, more Beachbots will be put in place globally to help keep our environment cleaner and aid in protecting the ocean and wildlife.

 

References:

Beachapedia. (Jan 2022). Cigarette Litter Butts. https://beachapedia.org/Cigarette_Butt_Litter#:~:text=Cigarette%20butt%20litter%20is%20a,ocean%20and%20throughout%20the%20watershed.&text=Toxins%2C%20toxic%20chemicals%2C%20and%20carcinogens,butts%2C%20misinterpreting%20them%20for%20food.

Gonderman, M. (2021) A Little Robot That Cleans the Beach, One Butt at a Time. Motortrend. https://www.motortrend.com/news/beachbot-ai-robot-techtics-cleans-cigarette-butts-beach/ 

Hahn, D. J. (April 2019). 4.5 Trillion Cigarette Butts – the Biggest Man-Made Ocean Containment – Are Littered Each Year. People. https://people.com/human-interest/cigarette-butts-oceans-trash/

Perucica, N. (28 Jan 2022). Our children are growing up with AI. Here's what you need to know. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/01/artificial-intelligence-children-technology/

Rainey, J. (27 Aug 2018). Plastic straw ban? Cigarette butts are the single greatest source of ocean trash. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/plastic-straw-ban-cigarette-butts-are-single-greatest-source-ocean-n903661

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