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Vinatier and Pérez-López argue that current insect pest management often fails because it treats monitoring as a purely technical challenge, overlooking the structural ecological, technological, and socio-economic barriers that make timely detection difficult. Through the development and synthesis of AI-driven tools that integrate computer vision, sensor networks, molecular diagnostics, and predictive analytics, they show that insect monitoring must move beyond manual trapping and delayed assessments. Their perspective highlights the need for resilient pest management systems that extend beyond enhanced data, advocating for approaches that integrate farmer contexts, diverse information sources, and ethical considerations. By positioning AI as a bridge between ecological intelligence and precision agriculture, Vinatier and Pérez-López recommend reframing monitoring as a proactive, participatory, and sustainability-oriented process rather than a reactive, chemical-dependent one. Vinatier & Pérez-López, 2026.
Image Credit: Ella Maru Studio
Citation: (2026) PLOS Sustainability and Transformation Issue Image | Vol. 5(1) February 2026. PLOS Sustain Transform 5(1): ev05.i01. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pstr.v05.i01
Published: February 10, 2026
Copyright: © 2026 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Vinatier and Pérez-López argue that current insect pest management often fails because it treats monitoring as a purely technical challenge, overlooking the structural ecological, technological, and socio-economic barriers that make timely detection difficult. Through the development and synthesis of AI-driven tools that integrate computer vision, sensor networks, molecular diagnostics, and predictive analytics, they show that insect monitoring must move beyond manual trapping and delayed assessments. Their perspective highlights the need for resilient pest management systems that extend beyond enhanced data, advocating for approaches that integrate farmer contexts, diverse information sources, and ethical considerations. By positioning AI as a bridge between ecological intelligence and precision agriculture, Vinatier and Pérez-López recommend reframing monitoring as a proactive, participatory, and sustainability-oriented process rather than a reactive, chemical-dependent one. Vinatier & Pérez-López, 2026.
Image Credit: Ella Maru Studio