Oscar Pocket app uses AI to empower efficient recycling
Intuitive AI has launched the beta version of its ‘Oscar Pocket’ – an app powered by artificial intelligence (AI) aimed at providing consumers and the industry with recycling and waste information. The full version will be launched in the coming weeks.
The free tool asks users to type in questions about recycling or waste management to receive AI-generated answers tailored by location and local legislation. Intuitive AI describes it as ‘ChatGPT or Siri for waste’.
CEO Hassan Murad told WasteDive that the beta version draws from publicly-available municipal recycling and waste information from about 150 cities around the world, as well as input from some packaging and waste management companies. It is inviting brands to collaborate to continue improving the technology.
Murad added: “We want anybody from anywhere to be able to ask [Oscar Pocket] a question and they can get a response on where this item should go.”
The new tool extends Intuitive AI's ‘Oscar’ Platform by augmenting the platform’s real-time waste detection capabilities with generative AI to provide a simple answer on how to properly dispose of it. Generative AI (GenAI) is a type of artificial intelligence that can create a wide variety of data, such as images, videos, audio, text and even 3D models. Intuitive AI will also be enabling a quick recognition feature so people can learn where an item goes just by using their phone's camera.
Developing an AI for waste management
The developers of Oscar Pocket have trained the AI using extensive data sets, covering a wide range of waste materials and Oscar Pocket is also capable of self-learning – enhancing its recognition and classification accuracy over time. The device is expected to significantly alleviate the issue of contamination and misclassified waste, resulting in improved recycling rates.
The AI platform works slightly differently from other recycling apps because it analyses regularly-updated information and recycling rules from all over the world, rather than relying on specialised local programs or databases.
The tool also draws from data from Intuitive AI’s product ‘Oscar Sort’, which is a technology deployed at stadiums, universities and other public spaces that scans waste items to guide consumers towards the correct bin.
Oscar Sort also offers a ‘gamification’ experience to draw consumers in and encourage recycling with rewards tailored to the environment – such as cash or sporting merchandise - a feature that Intuitive AI hopes to integrate into Oscar Pocket to offer rewards such as coupons or deals for local businesses.
‘Democratising’ recycling and waste management
Intuitive AI believes the introduction of Oscar will have far-reaching implications for waste management on both micro and macro scales. "Oscar has the potential to democratise recycling, making it an effortless, everyday activity. It's a transformative tool that could shift our collective behaviour towards waste," said Murad.
"Oscar is a tool for empowerment," he continued. "Not only can it help businesses and municipalities manage their waste more efficiently, but it also encourages consumers to take ownership of their recycling habits."
