iNaturalist
Image recognition helps people identify plants, animals, and fungi in photos; the community verifies identifications and builds open biodiversity data.
About
iNaturalist automatically suggests a species or species group for a photo. Other users review and improve the identification; only with sufficient agreement and quality checks can an observation become 'research grade' and become available for research via GBIF. A 2025 systematic review found that the use of iNaturalist data in peer-reviewed research increased tenfold over five years, covering data from 128 countries and 638 taxonomic families. Coverage remains uneven: popular locations and species are overrepresented, and an AI suggestion is not a reliable final determination.
AI factor
The image model is trained on photos and identifications from users and quickly gives an observer a likely direction. Human experts remain needed to correct errors, distinguish difficult species, and validate the final research data.
Sources
Inspiration sourced from AI For Good. Not an Arnaldus customer case.