Is the iNaturalist use of artificial intelligence damaging this planet?

[AdamWargon]

From the post that @thomaseverest linked to:

@kueda

It’s an interesting question, but a complicated one, and honestly not one we have the resources to answer in a quantitative fashion (assuming that’s even possible)

@kueda

The carbon footprint of iNaturalist as a whole is an even more ponderous and hard/impossible-to-answer question. Does iNat encourage people to consume more carbon through travel? To consume more electricity through more use of digital devices? To contribute to more pollution by supporting the market for electronics? My guess is that we’re a part of all these problems, but probably a very small part.

@kiwifergus

That ticket around the world for eco tourism leads to a high value being developed for the natural world, which equates to votes in elections that stop governments allowing conglomerates to slash down the forests…

You are far more likely to fight to look after something you flew around the world for than you are a picture in a book.