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Anyone Using Artificial Intelligence With Their Gold Detectors?


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Welcome,

I was wondering if anyone if using any form of artificial intelligence in their gold detectors? 

I'm an artificial intelligence (AI) programmer. Last night I was watching Aduk gold on Netflix and suddenly wondered if anyone was using AI? A quick google didn't return much. 

I'm not sure how familiar everyone is with AI, but essentially since around 2015 it's blowing away peoples expectations year upon year. Simply put, traditional computer programs require humans to code in rules that then lead to a result. AI does that backward, it takes the results and creates its own rules to get to that. 

To do this with gold would require the creation of training data to feed into the AI. I don't know anything about gold detecting but I imagine you'd bury some pieces of gold and go over it with the detector, then save the waveforms (or equivalent) onto a computer. These become the gold samples. Then also bury things that most often give the most false positives compared to gold, and save those waveforms. 

The exciting thing compared to a few years ago is that not a huge amount of training data is needed. It's possible to take huge AIs trained by Google and then teach them the new gold samples far quicker with a lot higher accuracy. The process of training is basically the AI guessing 'gold vs not gold', and over millions of iterations it starts to learn. It then can be saved and used in the field to give a percentage estimation of how likely it thinks something is gold. 

I don't know anything about gold detecting but this is how I would see it used practically. Am I right in thinking that a fair amount of time is spent digging up false leads? If it's not and most of the time is spent surveying the area then the AI isn't very useful. But if there is a lot of time digging up false leads, then if the AI could save someone digging up 90% of the false leads would this create a lot of value? 

I'm really interested in any thoughts that any of you have regarding this. 

Cheers

Ben

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3 hours ago, Ben201000 said:

I was wondering if anyone if using any form of artificial intelligence in their gold detectors?

Unfortunately some don't even use natural intelligence.  😎

3 hours ago, Ben201000 said:

The exciting thing compared to a few years ago is that not a huge amount of training data is needed. It's possible to take huge AIs trained by Google and then teach them the new gold samples far quicker with a lot higher accuracy. The process of training is basically the AI guessing 'gold vs not gold', and over millions of iterations it starts to learn.

This paragraph seems to contradict itself.  "...Not a huge amount of training data is needed."  Then the next sentence:  "...over millions of iterations it starts to learn."  (emphasis mine)

I undetstand in machine learning that if a lot of data has already been 'mined' (no pun intended, but it's a good one here 😁) and properly formatted, letting a computer learn from those data can be relatively quick.  But what you are describing doesn't sound like data that can be quickly nor easily collected.

One thing that even regulars here sometimes overlook is that the customer base for metal detectors can't be compared with many consumer products (such as cellphones).  What might be obvious R&D funding expenditures for products in high demand can be prohibitive in limited product markets.

 

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Recently downunders ABC had this bit of news.

Google fires software engineer who says AI chatbot LaMDA has feelings - ABC News

Suspect Ben201000 your on the money, the future lies in that direction no doubt why not our detectors, if AI can handle the noise (ground, EMI etc etc) we`ll have more depth/sensitivity. 

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Hi Ben,

You should buy a metal detector and join us.   

All I want to see/experience/hear is the object's density as compared to a standard, with an audio output that tells me how close the signal response is to the standard.

HH
Mike

 

 

 

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I and scores of detector users await your success, as pointed out the challenges are many the variables countless, just the gold alone returns different signatures depending on size, orientation, composition, density, surrounding minerals and trash, oxidation… the list goes on and on. But if you could pull it off the line to you’re door would be very long, and why large companies like Minelab invest millions of dollars and thousands of hours on research seeking the answers to those questions as we await the next new thing. Best of luck, for sure.

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The gold varies in size (no two are the same shape or size), content of other metals in it, the change of ground, moister in ground, and most of all how the operator uses the detector.  Such as speed, attention, consistency of coil height and over lapping. A big job for humans (risk assessment of leaving gold behind) bigger job for AI.  

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