a brilliant response. but I expect that Tweeters will soon be flooded with
2nd hand binos, scopes, etc. for sale. should I update my 28 year old
Swarovskis? just for my yard list, or can I learn how to use ChatGPT for
that too? is this something WOS or the former Seattle Audubon can help
with?
Chris Kessler
On Sat, Apr 1, 2023 at 9:32 AM Robert O'Brien <
baro at pdx.edu> wrote:
>
I totally support Chat-Birding as well.. The savings in Birding Equipment
>
alone is worth it. Binos,Scopes, Cameras, Night-vision Imaging, Recording
>
Equipment, the list goes on and on. I ain't no spring chicken any more and
>
it was becoming a real chore to lug all this equipment around. I'm assuming
>
here, of course, that the Chat Box will also produce photos, recordings,
>
distinctive field marks, etc. of the rarer species that I can keep in my
>
Birding Scrapbook. I am also guessing that Bird Lists from hard-to-bird
>
places will also be available. For instance I've always been reluctant to
>
bird Cartel-ridden areas of Mexico. But, via the Chatbox I can now search
>
for the Imperial Woodpecker, And this will also open up Birding Areas in
>
hostage-periled areas of Russia, China, Iran.... The sky is the limit.
>
(For instance, I could search for Black Swifts on their South
>
American wintering grounds where they fly for months without ever
>
landing.) Such a joy to live in the modern world where human intelligence
>
is a thing of the past. Bob OBrien Portland
>
P.S. After all, I was never all that smart myself.
>
>
>
>
On Sat, Apr 1, 2023 at 7:25 AM Tom Benedict <benedict.t at comcast.net>
>
wrote:
>
>>
I totally support this change. The savings in fuel and time costs alone
>>
justify it and the positive effects on global climate change are
>>
immeasurable.
>>
>>
Tom Benedict
>>
Seahurst, WA
>>
>>
On Apr 1, 2023, at 06:15, Matt Bartels <mattxyz at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>>
Marymoor Park, in Redmond WA, is leading the way in AI-fueled birding.
>>
>>
With the weekly Marymoor bird outings beginning their 30th year,
>>
Michael Hobbs, leader of the walk, announced a major change in how future
>>
walks will proceed. Beginning in April, ChatGPT will be used in lieu of
>>
birders in the field to generate the weekly bird reports.
>>
>>
ChatGPT has exploded in popularity this year as the first widely used
>>
example of narrow AI. It appears capable of producing near-human sounding
>>
plausible narratives using a LLM in response to user questions. Hobbs, no
>>
stranger to technological advances, had just the dataset to train ChatGPT
>>
on -; namely, his website https://www.marymoor.org/BirdBlog.htm. With
>>
weekly reports for years of consistent birding outings at Marymoor Park, it
>>
contained patterns the AI would easily be able to learn from.
>>
>>
"Honestly, it takes very little work to train ChatGPT to produce reports
>>
-- arguably better reports than we humans can produce", Hobbs
>>
reported. ChatGPT reviews past Marymoor reports for the week and broader
>>
trends on eBird and produces a near-perfect report for future weeks. Hobbs
>>
is now working to incorporate weather data into the model as well for
>>
better precision."
>>
>>
Although he has already had ChatGPT produce the reports for each week in
>>
2023, he is keeping future reports a closely held secret, saying "Afterall,
>>
the joy of being a birder is reading about other people's birding stories,
>>
whether to smile at the absurd misses or to groan about the birds you
>>
missed by staying home that day. I wouldn't want to take that away."
>>
>>
He will offer one clue to the future though: May the 4th -; go to
>>
Marymoor on that date.
>>
>>
Faced with the prospect of AI produced bird reports, the Washington Bird
>>
Records Committee and the eBird reviewer community have tentatively agreed
>>
to treat reports seriously. Said one member "Seriously, if the quality of
>>
detail produced by ChatGPT is as convincing as I've seen, it will be a step
>>
above many reports we look at already."
>>
>>
While some are hesitant, others welcome the coming change. "Anything that
>>
might lessen the stress mobs of birders disturbing nature is constantly
>>
producing would be a step forward," says one formerly avid birder. Others
>>
are less excited about the changes -; ChatGPT has not helped things with
>>
some of its more public failures -; Academics have pointed
>>
<https://oxford-review.com/chatgpt-making-up-references/> to papers
>>
produced with footnotes created out of whole cloth. A recent article
>>
<https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kevin-roose-ai-chatbot_n_63eeb367e4b0063ccb2bcc45> saw
>>
the reporter holding an extended conversation w/ the AI that led to the
>>
reporter being urged to leave his spouse for the bot -; And ChatGPT is
>>
suspected to be behind the new awkward renaming choice of some local
>>
birding groups already.
>>
>>
For now, Hobbs says he'll continue to walk at Marymoor weekly, but he
>>
looks forward to stepping away and allowing the bots to continue his legacy
>>
-; "Imagine all those Thursdays I could sleep in" he says wistfully.
>>
>>
Matt Bartels
>>
Seattle, WA
>>
>>
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>>
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>>
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>>
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>>
>
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>
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>
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>
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>
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"moderation in everything, including moderation"
Rustin Thompson