more cloud in the west and some longer spells of rain at times but he bit of brightness to come, too. bye for now. hello, this is bbc news with lukwesa burak. the headlines: protests across america as the supreme court overturns a woman's constitutional right to have an abortion. here in tennessee, it's one of 13 states that will make it nearly impossible for women to have abortions, even in the most severe circumstances. a battle that has, for decades, divided america is now being fought out across state lines. but many are delighted by the court's decision — around a dozen states are already moving to ban the procedure. police in norway say they're treating a shooting at a gay nightclub as a terrorist attack. the prime minister borisjohnson says he intends to "take the country forward" as backbench conservative mps consider fresh attempts to force him from power. a third day of strike action on the uk's rail network — only a fifth of train services are expected to run. now on bbc news, click. this week: a high—tech message from ukraine. it's unusual for presidents or heads of government to use a hologram to address people. the artificial intelligence catching the rubbish dumpers in the act, including this suspicious—looking chap. there . am. — look at that, bang to rights. is it a film or is it a game? when you've got a hollywood director on board, it might be both. and is it a puffin? yeah, it's definitely a puffin. yeah, it is, although nick's been distracted by a gadget. is that a wee windscreen wiper? hello and welcome to this big, green, open space.— hello and welcome to this big, green, open space. hello and welcome to this big, ureen, o--ensace. , ., ., green, open space. never before have we appreciated — green, open space. never before have we appreciated outdoor— green, open space. never before have we appreciated outdoor spaces - green, open space. never before have we appreciated outdoor spaces and - we appreciated outdoor spaces and parks like we have since locked down. ., . , parks like we have since locked down. ., ., , ., ., down. unfortunately lockdown also seen an increase _ down. unfortunately lockdown also seen an increase in _ down. unfortunately lockdown also seen an increase in something - seen an increase in something threatening to turn our green and pleasant [and into brown and unpleasant landfill, the illegal dumping of rubbish. the?e unpleasant landfill, the illegal dumping of rubbish. they have been well over1 million _ dumping of rubbish. they have been well over1 million fly-tipping - well over i million fly—tipping incidents in the uk over the past year and paul carter has been to see how ai is helping us find the fly—tippers. like many countries, england has seen a surge in the illegal dumping of rubbish during the pandemic. some people pull up and dispose of their waste while others... well, they literally do it on the fly. here on the outskirts of london, a number of councils have turned to tech to combat the issue. cameras but not as you know them. these use ai combat the issue. cameras but not as you know them. these use al to catch fly—tippers. since february, over80 smart cameras have been installed at known dumping hotspots across a number of councils including kingston upon thames and sutton. they are just kingston upon thames and sutton. they arejust one kingston upon thames and sutton. they are just one of the initiatives of the south london partnership's innovate programme which aims to harness the iot to rise to challenges that have risen during the pandemic and help people live better and healthier lives. so i decided to put the cameras through their paces. unlike regular cctv, these cameras don't record continuously and are only triggered when they detect movement. it not only limits the amount of footage someone has to look at, it reduces the carbon footprint solution. the footage is transmitted wirelessly to a secure cloud —based platform and an alert sent to the council's enforcement team. ijust enforcement team. i just dumped enforcement team. ijust dumped the rubbish we've seen behind me and you've had that come through to your phone as an alert? we get a notification on our device. so you will be able to see in real time almost someone dumping something?— time almost someone dumping something? yes. there i am. look at that, bang to — something? yes there i am. look at that, bang to rights. something? yes. there i am. look at that, bang to rights. we _ something? yes. there i am. look at that, bang to rights. we can - something? yes. there i am. look at that, bang to rights. we can see - something? yes. there i am. look at that, bang to rights. we can see the | that, bang to rights. we can see the erson, that, bang to rights. we can see the person. we — that, bang to rights. we can see the person. we can _ that, bang to rights. we can see the person, we can see _ that, bang to rights. we can see the person, we can see the _ that, bang to rights. we can see the person, we can see the items - that, bang to rights. we can see the person, we can see the items on - person, we can see the items on their trolley. is person, we can see the items on their trolley-— person, we can see the items on their trolley. is that important, to be able to identify _ their trolley. is that important, to be able to identify what _ their trolley. is that important, to be able to identify what it - their trolley. is that important, to be able to identify what it is - their trolley. is that important, to be able to identify what it is that l be able to identify what it is that they are dumping? yen; be able to identify what it is that they are dumping? very important because it's _ they are dumping? very important because it's hard _ they are dumping? very important because it's hard to _ they are dumping? very important because it's hard to do _ they are dumping? very important because it's hard to do what - they are dumping? very important because it's hard to do what we i they are dumping? very important| because it's hard to do what we are going for. if it's anything that has a health and safety concern. {sheen a health and safety concern. given these cameras _ a health and safety concern. given these cameras are _ a health and safety concern. given these cameras are operating - a health and safety concern. given these cameras are operating in - a health and safety concern. given these cameras are operating in busy urban environments they are often triggered over 100,000 times a day. the captured footage could just show a passing car or pedestrian so why aren't the council getting thousands of alerts a day? how is the camera able to spot a legitimate fly—tipping event amidst all that noise? well, the magic isn't actually happening in the camera itself, but rather behind—the—scenes in the cloud. there is an ai, machine learning element to the process. how does that work and what are the cameras looking for? detection of people is reasonably straightforward. the tricky bit is what is rubbish? in one environment —— rubbish in one environment is not rubbish in another environment. the cameras track movement in that environment and then scientists will look at that and make sure we tag and review the footage and making sure the right thing is being tagged, are we getting false positives or false negatives? tagged, are we getting false positives orfalse negatives? trying to minimise those elements so that what we see is accurate.— what we see is accurate. make sure ou're what we see is accurate. make sure you're actually _ what we see is accurate. make sure you're actually using _ what we see is accurate. make sure you're actually using a _ what we see is accurate. make sure you're actually using a little - what we see is accurate. make sure you're actually using a little bit - you're actually using a little bit of a human element to teach them context. that's quite a difficult thing for an ai context. that's quite a difficult thing for an al to learn on its own. vision technology can identify what our box is or what matters is but doesn't know whether it is good or bad. —— what a box is. i doesn't know whether it is good or bad. -- what a box is.— bad. -- what a box is. i can see shadowy _ bad. -- what a box is. i can see shadowy figures _ bad. -- what a box is. i can see shadowy figures dropping - bad. -- what a box is. i can see shadowy figures dropping off i bad. -- what a box is. i can see - shadowy figures dropping off rubbish as to what has it identified? this is one of the _ as to what has it identified? ti 3 is one of the computer vision models we use. it is detecting rubbish that has come into the scene of the camera. you may recognise the person pushing the rubbish! the model has detected 68% accuracy.— pushing the rubbish! the model has detected 68% accuracy. that's pretty accurate. if we _ detected 68% accuracy. that's pretty accurate. if we look _ detected 68% accuracy. that's pretty accurate. if we look at _ detected 68% accuracy. that's pretty accurate. if we look at other - accurate. if we look at other incidents. — accurate. if we look at other incidents, this _ accurate. if we look at other incidents, this one - accurate. if we look at other incidents, this one hasn't i accurate. if we look at other i incidents, this one hasn't been matched so this is the same trolley so this should have actually been tagged. in this case it had a passion in front of the trolley which is probably why... it may be someone doing their shopping in front of a rubbish bin! so we can draw a box over this and the model will in future improve itself based upon this information we give it. it seems that feedback loop is working, with significant drops in reported incidents at former hotspots. the real challenge for councils like the one here is preventing fly—tipping from happening in the first place and notjust potentially moving the problem into other areas. but it's clear to see that technology like the one being used here does have real potential to change the area and improve it for people that live and improve it for people that live and work here. no can we see that picture of the trolley again? i think that was the teddy i gave him for his birthday! and what's that old chair?- and what's that old chair? that's definitely the _ and what's that old chair? that's definitely the shot _ and what's that old chair? that's definitely the shot of _ and what's that old chair? that's definitely the shot of the - and what's that old chair? that's definitely the shot of the show! | and what's that old chair? that's i definitely the shot of the show! we seen how ai definitely the shot of the show! we seen how a! can track fly—tippers. can this technology also be used to track puffins? trust me, that's what they are thinking. we talked in the past about her putting up wind turbines might affect local wildlife, well, nick kwek has been to the north sea to find out how one energy company is trying to prevent problems for puffins. nine the coast of wick at the far north of scotland, it's windy and wavy. i've come to visit the 84 turbines that make up sse renewables's site. this is one of the uk's largest offshore wind farms with enough capacity to power almost 500,000 homes. the uk government once enough wind energy to be generated to power all of british homes by 2030 and it has cut approval times for new offshore farms from four years to just one. of course, is not as simple as just sticking these things into the sea bed. ., ., ' , ., bed. right now with offshore wind and the scale _ bed. right now with offshore wind and the scale of _ bed. right now with offshore wind and the scale of development - bed. right now with offshore wind and the scale of development we | bed. right now with offshore wind i and the scale of development we are going to see, we just don't yet know how that's going to impact the ocean so we always need to think about the impact on habitats and wildlife, especially when we are harnessing nature's resources, we need to make sure we are protecting the natural environment too.— environment too. they have been conducting _ environment too. they have been conducting a _ environment too. they have been conducting a study _ environment too. they have been conducting a study with _ environment too. they have been conducting a study with microsoftj environment too. they have been i conducting a study with microsoft on the isle of may in fife, home to seals, ducklings and the much loved puffin. this is a sanctuary for puffins with around 80,000 nesting here each year. it's estimated because traditional counting has been done by eye. researchers have found better ways to keep track of them. ' . ., ., , , �* them. the effect of wind farms isn't seen immediately _ them. the effect of wind farms isn't seen immediately in _ them. the effect of wind farms isn't seen immediately in the _ them. the effect of wind farms isn't seen immediately in the local- seen immediately in the local ecology, it takes time and it's important we start monitoring the local ecology to a wind farm so we can understand the impacts we have and implement corrective actions and hopefully have a positive impact. tote hopefully have a positive impact. we have installed for artificially intelligent camera systems to count puffins and monitor their flight, each equipped with their own custom—made marine grade jackets. you cannot buy this off—the—shelf, we had this created for these cameras specifically. the puffins are under surveillance 24 hours a day. is are under surveillance 24 hours a da . . . are under surveillance 24 hours a da . , . . , . are under surveillance 24 hours a da., . . ,. , day. is that a wee windscreen wiper? yes, that allows _ day. is that a wee windscreen wiper? yes, that allows us _ day. is that a wee windscreen wiper? yes, that allows us to _ day. is that a wee windscreen wiper? yes, that allows us to perform - yes, that allows us to perform periodic maintenance and clean the lens of salty deposits picked up from the sea air. puffins when congregating around their bodies tend to face out looking down this hill so we have one camera positioned further down the hill looking straight onto the puffin in portrait wit as this one gives a good side on view of the puffin —— whereas this one gives a side on view. as part of the trial we wanted to understand what we give the ai to understand what we give the a! the best opportunity to recognise a puffin. in february, this wasjust a barren ground with no grass or flowers and you can see now all these white flowers that have bloomed, so the white flowers actually emerge with the breast of the puffins in terms of the pixels for the ai the puffins in terms of the pixels for the al to pick up so it's actually tricking the ai and resulted in slight inaccuracies until we retrained the model to identify the puffins in amongst the white flowers. 50 identify the puffins in amongst the white flowers.— white flowers. so it actually ended u . white flowers. so it actually ended u- not white flowers. so it actually ended up not being _ white flowers. so it actually ended un not being a _ white flowers. so it actually ended up not being a simple _ white flowers. so it actually ended up not being a simple as _ white flowers. so it actually ended up not being a simple as you - up not being a simple as you thought? it up not being a simple as you thou:ht? . . , .,, up not being a simple as you thou:ht? . ., , .,, ., up not being a simple as you thou:ht? . . , ., , thought? it certainly was not but that was the _ thought? it certainly was not but that was the reason _ thought? it certainly was not but that was the reason for - thought? it certainly was not but that was the reason for the - thought? it certainly was not but that was the reason for the trial, to explore, understand what works well, what doesn't, and there are many takeaways, one including seasonal training of the model. this is chiefl a seasonal training of the model. this is chiefly a data _ seasonal training of the model. this is chiefly a data gathering exercise. the initial entries for a long term puffin digital database. we are already building up quite a strong picture of how puffins behave during certain times of day and understanding when there is peak puffin activity versus low puffin activity so very soon we should be able to understand when there are anomalies in this behaviour. at the moment it is still very early and we are trying to understand the data pulling it together. we are trying to understand the data pulling it together.— are trying to understand the data pulling it together. we got a very narrow window _ pulling it together. we got a very narrow window of _ pulling it together. we got a very narrow window of time to - pulling it together. we got a very narrow window of time to ensure | narrow window of time to ensure we can protect ecosystems that are in danger and so it's something incredibly close to microsoft's heart. is that a bit of responsibility or even guilt sometimes when it comes to addressing the climate change issues surrounding technology companies, having such a carbon footprint? tote companies, having such a carbon footrint? ~ ~' ., companies, having such a carbon footrint? ~ ~ ., ., companies, having such a carbon footrint? ~' ., . footprint? we know that the carbon emissions that _ footprint? we know that the carbon emissions that microsoft _ footprint? we know that the carbon emissions that microsoft have - emissions that microsoft have represent less than 1% of the global carbon_ represent less than 1% of the global carbon emissions but you are right, the data _ carbon emissions but you are right, the data centre is one that we are focused _ the data centre is one that we are focused on — the data centre is one that we are focused on and i think in today's world, _ focused on and i think in today's world, the — focused on and i think in today's world, the demand for data and technology is one that is growing. to satisfy — technology is one that is growing. to satisfy that demand, we will need more electricity. the thing is, if we are to reach government targets and lessen our dependence on burning fossil fuels, and lessen our dependence on burning fossilfuels, we are and lessen our dependence on burning fossil fuels, we are going to have to embrace renewable energy. let's just hope the roll—out is a harmonious one for everyone's sake. time know for a look at this week's tech news and you know those pop—ups online asking you to consent to cookies that track your behaviour on the web? well, the uk government is looking to get rid of them and move to a system that assumes your consent unless you opt out. it says it wants to move away from the red tape of europe's gdp art law. viewers in the uk now have access to another video streaming service, paramount plus has launched here with further expansion to get up later this year. experts have questioned if people will pay for another platform but the stars in the red carpet for the premiere are confident. i the red carpet for the premiere are confident. ~ �* . . the red carpet for the premiere are confident. ~ �* , ., ., confident. i think it's a wonderful there are more _ confident. i think it's a wonderful there are more streaming - confident. i think it's a wonderful. there are more streaming platforms because there is so much talent out there and i love the idea of everybody getting an opportunity. know that we had allowed back to the office, we might not quite be using zoom so much but the video meeting software is still launching a new version. the features of zoom—1 will include out of meeting chat and auto translation to different languages for business customers. students at university college london have develop