I read zero posts in this thread, but here’s what the AI summary just generated from 416 posts:
The iNaturalist community reacted strongly negatively to a newly announced grant from Google to explore using generative AI to improve species identification suggestions, with many users threatening to leave the platform.
Concerns centered on potential inaccuracies, the environmental impact of AI, a distrust of Google, and a fear that AI would undermine the valuable human expertise and community interaction that define iNaturalist.
graysquirrel initially led the opposition, compiling data showing overwhelming community disapproval (#373). However, after a three-hour meeting with iNaturalist staff (@loarie and others), graysquirrel and procyonloiter reported a positive outcome, clarifying the situation and alleviating concerns.
The staff emphasized that the grant is a standard funding source, that no user data will be shared with Google, and that the AI exploration is a small part of the grant’s purpose, focused on surfacing and organizing existing expertise, not replacing it. The project will be a demo and will not be implemented if it proves unhelpful.
loarie apologized for poor communication and reassured the community that iNaturalist’s core values and community-driven approach will not change. Many users, including Masebrock and holocene_matt, expressed relief and appreciation for the clarification, while others, like spidercat and dlevitis, remained cautiously optimistic.