#google lens

[mcromwell]

For anyone interested, google lens only picked up about three words of my collage here. (Note the highlighted parts are the only things it recognized, and even then only got some letters in some words.)

What a FUN FACT!

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[gabrielthejester]

I like it when Google lens completely mistranslates the wan

I'm sure there's more instances like this I just need to find them. These are funny tho

[rebeccathenaturalist]

An App Does Not a Master Naturalist Make

Originally posted on my website at https://rebeccalexa.com/app-not-master-naturalist/ - I had written this as an op-ed and sent it to WaPo, but they had no interest, so you get to read it here instead!

I have mixed feelings about Michael Coren’s April 25 Washington Post article, “These 4 free apps can help you identify every flower, plant and tree around you.” His ebullience at exploring some of the diverse ecological community around him made me grin, because I know exactly what it feels like. There’s nothing like that sense of wonder and belonging when you go outside and are surrounded by neighbors of many species, instead of a monotonous wall of green, and that is a big part of what led me to become a Master Naturalist.

When I moved from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest in 2006, I felt lost because I didn’t recognize many of the animals or plants in my new home. So I set about systematically learning every species that crossed my path. Later, I began teaching community-level classes on nature identification to help other people learn skills and tools for exploring their local flora, fauna, and fungi.

Threeleaf foamflower (Tiarella trifoliata)

Let me be clear: I love apps. I use Merlin routinely to identify unknown bird songs, and iNaturalist is my absolute favorite ID app, period. But these tools are not 100% flawless.

For one thing, they’re only as good as the data you provide them. iNaturalist’s algorithms, for example, rely on a combination of photos (visual data), date and time (seasonal data), and GPS coordinates (location data) to make initial identification suggestions. These algorithms sift through the 135-million-plus observations uploaded to date, finding observations that have similar visual, seasonal, and location data to yours.

There have been many times over the years where iNaturalist isn’t so sure. Take this photo of a rather nondescript clump of grass. Without seed heads to provide extra clues, the algorithms offer an unrelated assortment of species, with only one grass. I’ve gotten that “We’re not confident enough to make a recommendation” message countless times over my years of using the app, often suggesting species that are clearly not what I’m looking at in real life.

Because iNaturalist usually offers up multiple options, you have to decide which one is the best fit. Sometimes it’s the first species listed, but sometimes it’s not. This becomes trickier if all the species that are suggested look alike. Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) and eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra) all have pinnately compound, lanceolate leaves, and young plants of these three species can appear quite similar. If all you know how to do is point and click your phone’s camera, you aren’t going to be able to confidently choose which of the three plants is the right one.

Coren correctly points out that both iNaturalist and Pl@ntNet do offer more information on suggested species—if people are willing to take the time to look. Too many assume ID apps will give an easy, instant answer. In watching my students use the app in person almost everyone just picks the first species in the list. It’s not until I demonstrate how to access the additional content for each species offered that anyone thinks to question the algorithms’ suggestions.

While iNaturalist is one of the tools I incorporate into my classes, I emphasize that apps in general are not to be used alone, but in conjunction with field guides, websites, and other resources. Nature identification, even on a casual level, requires critical thinking and observation skills if you want to make sure you’re correct. Coren’s assertion that you only need a few apps demonstrates a misunderstanding of a skill that takes time and practice to develop properly—and accurately.

Speaking of oversimplification, apps are not a Master Naturalist in your pocket, and that statement —while meant as a compliment–does a disservice to the thousands of Master Naturalists across the country. While the training curricula vary from state to state, they are generally based in learning how organisms interact within habitats and ecosystems, often drawing on a synthesis of biology, geology, hydrology, climatology, and other natural sciences. A Master Naturalist could tell you not only what species you’re looking at, but how it fits into this ecosystem, how its adaptations are different from a related species in another ecoregion, and so forth.

Map showing Level III and IV ecoregions of Oregon, the basis of my training as an Oregon Master Naturalist.

In spite of my criticisms, I do think that Coren was absolutely onto something when he described the effects of using the apps. Seeing the landscape around you turn from a green background to a vibrant community of living beings makes going outside a more exciting, personal experience. I and my fellow nature nerds share an intense curiosity about the world around us. And that passion, more than any app or other tool, is fundamental to becoming a citizen naturalist, Master or otherwise.

Did you enjoy this post? Consider taking one of my online foraging and natural history classes or hiring me for a guided nature tour, checking out my other articles, or picking up a paperback or ebook I’ve written! You can even buy me a coffee here!

[indecisiveavocado]

suuure, google lens AI

(but like seriously is google experimenting with monetizing the unmonetizable by getting paid to introduce adverts into AI by Big Roughing Tool for Epoxy Resin, Acrylic and Wood Hybrid Turning?)

[techniktagebuch]

8. September 2024

Stimmt, man braucht das ja jetzt gar nicht mehr

Auf dem Rückweg aus Kroatien halten wir in Slowenien an, um zu Abend zu essen. Der Kellner sagt beim Austeilen der Speisekarten, dass sie nur auf Slowenisch sind (wir befinden uns in einem untouristisch aussehenden Vorort). Sonst sagt er nichts, obwohl er es könnte, er spricht gut Deutsch. Ich bin überrascht, dass er nicht "aber Sie können mich gern alles fragen" sagt oder sonst einen Lösungsvorschlag anbietet. Denn so war das meiner Meinung nach früher.

Aber der Kellner hat natürlich recht mit seiner Annahme, dass wir schon klarkommen werden, denn wir haben ja alle, einschließlich der Zehnjährigen, übersetzungsfähige Handys, durch die wir die slowenische Karte betrachten können. Ich nehme dafür die Kameraansicht von Google Translate, andere verwenden Google Lens. Ein paar Fragen bleiben offen ("was ist Stracciatella auf einer Pizza?" und "was sind Chilihaare?")*, aber alles Wichtige funktioniert problemlos.

* Später nachgeforscht: Stracciatella ist gar kein Übersetzungsfehler, sondern eine Art Büffelmozzarella. Chilihaare (čili laski) sind Chili-Fäden.

(Kathrin Passig)

[minyicho]

i feel like no one is talking about this. google lens is just so much worse than reverse image search like just let me see where an image is from

[harimenui-forever]

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but traditional google image search is fuckin dead somehow. The one thing that was actually good cuz it was good for searching who reposted your stuff? Dead, in the gutter in the favor of some stupid google lens bullshit.

It LOOKS LIKE SHIT AND IT DOESN'T WORK

It just shows you stuff it thinks is similar, but when you search for the source of the image it doesn't show you shit? Like I know my Saul drawing is both on tumblr and on instagram, the only thing it showed me was a link to some tumblr archive with the tag but NOT THE ACTUAL FUCKIN POST

IT IS USELESS HOW IS ANYONE SUPPOSED TO FIND ANYTHING??? HOW DO I SEARCH FOR ARTISTS WHOSE WORK IS UNSIGNED???