ID feature isn't functioning for insects - desktop app - have to use phone Seek app to access feature

Please fill out the following sections to the best of your ability, it will help us investigate bugs if we have this information at the outset. Screenshots are especially helpful, so please provide those if you can.

Platform Website

Browser: Chrome and Firefox

URLs (aka web addresses) of any relevant observations or pages: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/upload

Screenshots of what you are seeing

Description of problem:

Step 1: When uploadig any insect image or set of images for an observation, the AI chooses “Insecta” no matter how good or common the image is.

Step 2: I can use the Seek app on my phone to identify the image shown on my workstation’s monitor. AI functions in Seek as it used to in the web app. The missing photo ID functionality on the browser app has been apparent for many days.

Step 3: Clearling the cache, login cycling, or using another browser doesn’t fix the missing AI.

Does the photo file name contain the word insect?

2 Likes

Filename includes the word “bug”. I just uploaded an image of a lynx spider with “lynx” in the filename, and the AI suggested lynx mammals. If this is a feature, it’s not a very clever one.

Yes, this was a feature implemented a few years ago.

I will say that for the file named with “bug”, it’s matching on an unaccepted name:

It’s not clear that’s a good idea, but other areas of iNat also match on unaccepted names:

We can ask the developers to consider adding “bug” and “lynx” to the list of problem names, but in the short term, the recommendations are: use scientific names, don’t use taxon names in the file names at all, or just remove the problem name on the uploader and click again in the name field to call the CV.

You can also vote for this request to allow accounts to opt-out of filling from filename.

2 Likes

I’m kinda curious about this. As the name is not a scientific one, I don’t think the “accepted/not accepted” functionality does anything but display it with a strikethrough. I can do some testing.

I’m not sure what else you would have expected it to do?

Weird!

Well now I gotta know lol. The bug pun suspense potential is… unreasonably groan-inducing. A predicament, to be sure.