SETI 艾伦望远镜阵列引入 AI 智能体操控望远镜并实时分析信号
AI agents take over at SETI's Allen Telescope Array, scanning for extraterrestrial intelligence
SETI 研究所与 Breakthrough Listen 在加州北部的艾伦望远镜阵列部署了可操控望远镜并实时分析射电信号的 AI 智能体，目前研究人员仍需手动输入指令。系统基于 NVIDIA 的 Holoscan 平台，NVIDIA 称其硬件处理速度可达每秒 2.4 太比特，团队表示过去需要数周的工作现在数小时即可完成。团队还称已用 AI 实时探测到蟹状星云中的一颗脉冲星，并计划测试可在边缘本地运行的开源方案，面向未来月球背面的传感器。
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The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is getting help from AI. At the Allen Telescope Array in Northern California, AI agents can now steer the telescope and analyze incoming radio signals on the fly. Researchers still type in their commands for now.
Behind the system is Nvidia's Holoscan platform, which the SETI Institute and Breakthrough Listen use to process telescope data in real time. Nvidia says the hardware can chew through up to 2.4 terabits per second. Work that used to take weeks can now wrap up in hours, according to the team.
One early result: the team says it detected a pulsar in the Crab Nebula in real time using AI, a first. Pulsars are fast-spinning stellar remnants that send out regular signals, which makes them good test cases for signal detection. The team now wants to test open-source that can run locally on the edge, with an eye toward future sensors on the far side of the Moon.
Whether the AI agents will actually find anything is anyone's guess. Researchers have been searching for signals from extraterrestrial intelligence since the first SETI experiment in 1960. No one has found any yet.