Trove enables people to contribute photos to help developers build AI models, and online marketplace prioritises security and privacy.
An online marketplace that lets developers in Ireland buy data directly from members of the public in a clear and responsible way has been unveiled by Microsoft.
Improve their machine learning algorithms
Trove allows researchers to publicise Artificial Intelligence (AI) projects they are working on and ask people to contribute photos to help improve their machine learning algorithms.
This comes as developers and researchers rely on large amounts of high-quality and diverse photos to train computer vision models, which are used in a range of tools and services – from self-driving cars to cameras that help people living with a vision impairment understand what’s around them.
However, these images are often crowd-sourced by people who have little to no insight into the purpose of the project and the exact types of images that are needed. This can have a serious impact on how the tool or service performs. Trove solves this by ensuring developers can ask members of the public for the exact type of imagery they need for their project.
Everybody who has an image approved by a developer in Trove is paid for that photo. They can also read a clear and easy-to-understand description of the purpose of the project, directly communicate with developers to ask questions and decide how their photos are used.
Beach-cleaning robot
Images secured through Trove have already helped developers across mainland Europe to roll out an array of AI projects. One such example is the Dutch social enterprise, TechTics. Every year, 4.5 trillion cigarette butts end up in the environment. TechTics sought to create the first AI-enabled beach-cleaning robot that could spot cigarette butts and dispose of them safely.
To programme the robot to recognise litter on the ground, TechTics needed thousands of images of cigarette butts pictured along the shoreline. In purchasing 2,000 photos responsibly via Trove, TechTics’ team of developers have been able to successfully deploy the beach-cleaning bot and reduce litter along the coastline.
To mark the launch of Trove in Ireland, Bibhas Bhattacharya, Azure Lead, Microsoft Ireland said: “Every day, developers and researchers are finding creative ways to leverage AI to solve tough societal challenges and unlock business innovation.
"Whether they’re training a computer vision model to identify washed up waste on beaches or developing a machine learning algorithm to process business expenses through scanned pictures of receipts, they need access to data and quality images to ensure their success.
“That’s why we’re launching Trove in Ireland. As a responsible data-sharing platform for developers, Trove can build trusted connections between the people who depend on data and those who have it.”
Microsoft deletes information from uploaded photos that could potentially identify individuals, such as where the image was taken. Security and privacy around data is also a key consideration, with only the developer who created the project and their team able to access the images.
Developers in Ireland who want to use Trove must complete an onboarding process that asks them about the data that will be collected, how it will be used, examples of data they are looking for, how many photos they want to collect, and how much will they pay data providers. They are also given a guide on the rules around collecting data from the public.
Developers can get started with Trove by creating a data collection project here. The app is available for free on Android and iOS.