Boom, and we move into the new era of AI on Conservation Mag
AI and machine learning have been an interest of mine for many years. I built a little machine-learning bot called Gandalf a couple of years ago. The idea was to feed it some information on conservation and environmental knowledge. It was loaded with some general Siri-type responses and could tell you some jokes, etc. But, the learning process could have been more manageable for the use I envisaged.
Then, Chat GPT, AI, and the LLM (Large Language Model) hit the world by storm. As for most of you, I am sure it was a baptism of fire. In my role as lecturer, the AI models immediately started providing us with some challenges. Old policies for cheating had to be updated. Students caught cheating were using AI to complete not only their assignments but exams, too.
In my role as an editor for Conservation Mag, AI provided some excellent scope for doing some little copywriting tasks. Having AI write some articles for me did not seem ethical. I, however, decided to do some tests on the knowledge and responses in an interview I conducted with ChatGPT for an article, Biodiversity: What Is It? AI Helps to Provide Some Solutions in May this year.
Research shows that ChatGPT scores very well in environmental-type testing. The value it could add is just incredible. Getting the correct information into the right hands is critical. So it was during a discussion with a friend about my Gandalf initiative a couple of years ago he gave me the idea of resurrecting him using the latest technology.
In the bottom right of your screen, you will see little Gandalf. You can ask him all sorts of environmental questions. He may surprise you. Some answers may be cut slightly short; for complete answers, the ChatGPT site will provide more detail. I am busy training Gandalf about Conservation Mag. He can provide you with general information about the site, but for now, he will not replace the search function. He will instead direct you to it for general search queries. Our search is already quite intelligent, I promise.
If you have any ideas on how Gandalf can be improved, don't hesitate to get in touch with me. I always love the feedback.
