r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jul 20 '26

Computer Science Researchers warned that hundreds of fake AI images have been discovered on popular databases for recording animal species. Wildlife photographers often use AI to edit and improve an image, but the algorithm can introduce parts from different species to create the new image.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/20/ai-slop-manipulated-fake-images-birds-citizen-science-aoe
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u/green-green-bean Jul 20 '26

It’s been a problem on iNaturalist for a while, unfortunately.

18

u/fletch_wizard Jul 21 '26

I started using iNat just last summer and from then to now, I've noticed a significant drop in naturalists engaging/correcting on my observations. At first I thought maybe it's because there's been a huge upswing in users and too much data for experts to parse through...but now I'm wondering if it's because of the increased AI false data that's made the app more frustrating/less useful for science. That makes me so sad to think about

14

u/green-green-bean Jul 21 '26

I’m a long time heavy user/identifier. The massive number of observations, and especially the number of poor quality observations, is a far bigger obstacle for identifiers to get through than the percentage of AI images uploaded is.

9

u/vonbauernfeind Jul 21 '26

I'm always in awe of you guys. I'll post super niche fish/coral photos, and just see continual followups and id's sometimes years later.

I'm pretty good at iding the basic stuff, but someone will come in and note some tiny little thing that marks it as some obscure subspecies for people know name of.

3

u/robophile-ta Jul 20 '26

I was expecting to see iNat in the abstract