Sunday, October 19

Artificial Intelligence in Natural History

Thought for the Week 

Is the use of Artificial Intelligence in Natural History a good thing?

Do we think over the coming years with the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (A.I) for natural history, will we lose books dedicated to identification?

Apps used in Natural History: Left Merlin used to identify bird sounds, Centre Seek used to identify specimens and deliver information and stats, Right Google lens a id photo matching tool.

Previously identifying a specimen was identified by keys with very few photographs in any, just pencil drawings. Then books started appearing full of photographs and keys became lost from some books.

8 random pages from G.Rotheray book on hoverfly larvae showing keys to identify larva
Excerpt from the Colour Guide to Hoverfly Larvae (G.E.Rotheray) – 

Above is an excerpt from the Colour Guide to Hoverfly Larvae (G.E.Rotheray) – a superb Identification guide to the hoverfly larvae, there are pictures in the back but you really need the key.

Now we have Apps, eg Merlin, Seek and Google Lens that listen to a sound or allow you to upload a photograph, and they give an instant identification of species in the field, which over the last few years have been getting more accurate.

But how accurate are those identifications?

What has been your experience of using them, good or bad?

Is A.I. here to stay for natural history identification?

I would love to hear your thoughts, please comment below.

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