What if the most reviled creatures on Earth could speak for themselves? This question drove Michael Akrasi, a student from Ghana in the Cambridge Masters in Conservation Leadership, to explore an innovative approach during his professional placement.
Working with Nature Perspectives, a pioneering organisation founded by Cambridge alumni to enable meaningful conversations with simulations of nature, Michael set out to tackle conservation's "charisma gap" – the reality that whilst pandas and tigers capture hearts and funding, cockroaches and other non-charismatic species face extinction in silence.
His solution? A scientifically-grounded AI simulation named "Dusty" – a virtual American cockroach with personality, backstory, and the ability to engage in real-time conversations about her ecological importance. What started as an ambitious experiment in human-AI interaction became a powerful demonstration of how technology might revolutionise conservation communication.
Across 28 countries, participants who chatted with Dusty showed dramatic shifts in attitude – not just learning about cockroaches' ecological roles but developing genuine curiosity and even inspiration. Perhaps most fascinatingly, Michael discovered that participants began seeing cockroaches as having "friends and family" and communities, fundamentally shifting from viewing them as disgusting pests to complex social beings.
Michael's research revealed a crucial insight: the Nature Perspectives AI's success lay in its ability to correct deep-seated misconceptions. Many participants were surprised to learn that cockroaches don't necessarily spread diseases and actually play vital roles in nutrient cycling. The real-time, interactive nature allowed people to ask follow-up questions and get immediate, personalised responses – something traditional conservation education struggles to achieve.
The work also uncovered the power of naming and storytelling in conservation. By giving the cockroach a name and personality, participants could engage in perspective-taking for the first time, with one noting it was "the first time I think I've put myself in a cockroach's shoes."
Q&A with Michael Akrasi
- You mention this placement challenged your anthropocentric assumptions. What specific beliefs about conservation did you have to reconsider?
'My conservation work in Ghana has focused on unique and rare species like pangolins and the Togo slippery frog. Although these species are not traditionally charismatic megafauna, they still have clear conservation appeal because of their uniqueness and rarity. Subconsciously, I held this assumption that conservation should focus mainly on species that humans find appealing, be it big animals like elephants or even rarer animals like the Togo slippery frog. This placement experience caused me to rethink this assumption that conservation value shouldn’t be based on how rare, unique, or attractive a species seems to us, but on the vital roles they play in the ecosystem'.
- How did your background prepare you for such an interdisciplinary project combining AI, psychology, and conservation?
'My academic and professional backgrounds prepared me to take on this interdisciplinary project. My previous Bachelor’s and MPhil studies in Ghana provided me with the scientific grounding and quantitative skills which were essential for the data analysis and even the design of the study. My professional career as a Conservation Officer working with communities also taught me how to approach the human side of conservation which was crucial in approaching and recruiting participants for this study'.
- Can you walk me through the process of creating "Dusty's" personality? How do you decide what a cockroach's voice should sound like?
'In order to create Dusty’s personality, we utilised the Nature Perspectives platform, which enables simulations through the creation of comprehensive entity profiles grounded in science. The goal is to enable a conversation by giving it a personality, hence selecting the name Dusty and also settling for a female adult individual to create that imaginative experience of what cockroaches actually feel and also make the conversational experience engaging for people. So based on cockroaches’ biology and behaviour, we simulated her to reflect that perspective creating an immersive conversational experience'.
- You discuss "more-than-human leadership" – can you explain this concept in simple terms?
'More-than-human leadership is a relatively new leadership concept that transcends just focusing on people to include non-human beings, nature and the wider environment as part of leadership and decision-making. This concept looks at how interconnected humans and other forms of life are and considering their views, needs and voices when it comes to taking decisions that affect non-human life'.
- You mention developing "interspecies empathy." What does that mean to you personally? What ethical considerations should guide the development of AI that "speaks for" other species?
'To me, developing interspecies empathy means making the effort to imagine the world from another species’ perspective, to think and reflect on what it means for those species to exist in their world and all that happens around them. It is not just about looking at the world from the point of view of humans but recognising other beings in how they experience the world which sometimes differs or is similar to human experiences.
Ethically, if we use AI to “speak for” other species, we need to make sure it’s based on real science rather than just human projection. When I talk about science, I not referring to only what is considered as western science but including indigenous knowledge and other ways of knowing. We also have to be careful not to oversimplify or pretend we can perfectly translate their experience. Instead, AI should help us reflect on our biases, highlight the ecological roles of other species, and open up space for empath while always being honest about its limits'.
- What advice would you give to future Cambridge students considering unconventional placements?
'My advice would be to embrace the uncertainty that comes with unconventional placements. They can feel unpredictable at times, but that ambiguity is often where the most creative ideas emerge. Conservation challenges don’t have neat solutions, and some of the best breakthroughs happen at the intersections of disciplines. So, I would encourage future students to stay open to experimentation, be willing to question their own assumptions, and see unconventional placements as opportunities to explore new ways of thinking and communicating about conservation'.