Hello. I’m new to iNaturalist and I have no required knowledge to accurately id the living beings I find, so here’s my question: is it better to trust the app with the id (even though I cannot verify it by myself) or should I pick a very broad, but safe, id, like “insecta” or “arachnida”?

[image] cthawley: If you put a specific ID/AI ID and then other users (maybe experts) say it is something else, don’t hesitate to withdraw an ID you made in an area where you lack expertise. Bearing in mind, one cannot Withdraw an ID on the iOS app. If one uses iOS, the only way to withdraw a…

Lots of good advice here - one thing I can add is to learn the limitations of the AI. For example, it tends to be good at plants, not so good at most insects. (Some exceptions, but they tend to be things like the more distinctive sorts of butterflies which you will quickly learn yourself anyway.) Fo…

My take on this: Use the name at the lowest level that you can have any confidence in. If you’re not sure of the species and the Computer Vision offers some names, use a genus name if it seems likely. (You don’t have to be certain.) People doing identifications may search on “Plants” or “Animals…

Seconding and thirding people here by saying there is nothing wrong with going with what seems to be the most likely guess, even if it’s as general as ‘plant’ or even ‘life’ in the case of those weird ‘is a gall caused by a mite, an insect, a viral or bacterial infection, or a fungus???’ Also: my t…

I think it’s useful to note that it’s not always the case that an “expert” (e.g. a longtime birder, an actual botanist with a degree, etc.) can necessarily identify something either. Sometimes, a photo just isn’t good enough to identify something to the species level. Sometimes, various species or…

If in doubt keep to the broader IDs. But if you see a selection that looks good, check it out. See if it’s in range, and whether it looks like the auto-suggestion could have made a mistake. Compare the taxon photos to your own. There’s nothing wrong venturing a possible ID out, there’s usually enoug…

[image] tanyuu: or even ‘life’ in the case of those weird ‘is a gall caused by a mite, an insect, a viral or bacterial infection, or a fungus???’ I did that with my leaf curl observation, and it is still at "Life.’ [image] reedlindwurm: you also don’t need to be absolutely 1000% certain …

Comment vs an actual ID is - it could be vs I think it is.

When I make an ID that I’m not completely sure of (as if I never make mistakes - HA!), I’ll add a comment like “I think?” or “Maybe?” in the hopes that it signals to the observer or other identifiers that I’m no expert, please feel free to disagree with me.

I do that too and saw numerous times how it doesn’t stop observers from agreeing, I start to feel like disabling this feature would be helpful with little downside.

I'm no specialist, how should I proceed with my observations?

General

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I'm no specialist, how should I proceed with my observations?

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