<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Swavrovaki is working with eBird.org and its Merlin app to integrate ChatGPT into an upgraded version of its dG binocular. It should be available for sale by 4/1/24 if not before.<div><br></div><div>Zora Dermer</div><div>Seattle<br><br><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Apr 1, 2023, at 12:39 PM, J Christian Kessler <1northraven@gmail.com> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif">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?</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif">Chris Kessler<br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Apr 1, 2023 at 9:32 AM Robert O'Brien <<a href="mailto:baro@pdx.edu">baro@pdx.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">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<div>P.S. After all, I was never all that smart myself.</div><div><br><div><br></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Apr 1, 2023 at 7:25 AM Tom Benedict <<a href="mailto:benedict.t@comcast.net" target="_blank">benedict.t@comcast.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div>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.<div><br></div><div>Tom Benedict</div><div>Seahurst, WA<br><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Apr 1, 2023, at 06:15, Matt Bartels <<a href="mailto:mattxyz@earthlink.net" target="_blank">mattxyz@earthlink.net</a>> wrote:</div><br><div><div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Marymoor Park, in Redmond WA, is leading the way in AI-fueled birding.<u></u><u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> With the weekly Marymoor bird outings beginning their 30<sup>th</sup> 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.<u></u><u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">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 <a href="https://www.marymoor.org/BirdBlog.htm" style="color:rgb(149,79,114)" target="_blank">https://www.marymoor.org/BirdBlog.htm</a>. With weekly reports for years of consistent birding outings at Marymoor Park, it contained patterns the AI would easily be able to learn from.<u></u><u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">“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.”<u></u><u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">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.” <u></u><u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He will offer one clue to the future though: May the 4<sup>th</sup> – go to Marymoor on that date.<u></u><u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">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.”<u></u><u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">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 <a href="https://oxford-review.com/chatgpt-making-up-references/" style="color:rgb(149,79,114)" target="_blank">pointed</a> to papers produced with footnotes created out of whole cloth. A recent <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kevin-roose-ai-chatbot_n_63eeb367e4b0063ccb2bcc45" style="color:rgb(149,79,114)" target="_blank">article</a> 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.<u></u><u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">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.<u></u><u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u>Matt Bartels<u></u></div><div style="margin:0in;font-size:medium;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u>Seattle, WA<u></u></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>
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