Artificial intelligence and computer vision tools are transforming the ability to monitor farm animal welfare continuously and at scale. These technologies offer significant potential for welfare improvement.
AI monitoring tools represent a transformative opportunity for farm animal welfare because they address the fundamental limitation of human observation: continuous, objective assessment of large populations is simply beyond the capacity of stockpersons working conventional hours. By detecting welfare compromises earlier and more reliably, AI systems can reduce the duration of suffering before intervention. The technology is advancing rapidly and becoming more affordable. Welfare certification schemes that incentivise or require continuous monitoring adoption create the market conditions for broader uptake. Investment in AI welfare monitoring is one of the highest-leverage technology interventions available for improving farmed animal welfare.