AI face analysis can tell if cows and pigs are excited or stressed

By Michael Le Page

An AI system can detect nine emotional states in cattle and pigs by analysing their faces, and could lead to systems for monitoring and improving animal welfare on farms.

At present, the focus is on reducing animals’ pain and distress, but automated systems could help boost positive states as well, says Suresh Neethirajan at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. “There is a need to move away from just eliminating negative emotional states to providing positive states, such as playful behaviour.”

Neethirajan collected thousands of images and videos of cattle and pigs from …