Taxacom: no artifical 'intelligence' yet

Mon Feb 3 14:39:10 CST 2025

Actually my first question was 'Is Magnificus monophyletic' The response
only referenced a species, not the genus (which is what I had in mind).
Something truly intelligent (and acquainted with taxonomy) would have asked
what taxonomic level, or at least whether genus or species, or even gave
both (which ironically is likely to happen if one typed Magnificus as a
keyword into a standard Google or equivalent search). I guess
eventually computer programming is going to get sophisticated enough to
write entire taxonomic papers - just give the data, or eventually a robotic
computer will also handle all the specimens and dissect, map DNA etc
without anyone being involved at all. Then there will be no human
taxonomists left to read the result. Of course if we're lucky some nut will
blow the world up before then.

Cheers, John

On Mon, Feb 3, 2025 at 3:32 PM Scott Thomson <scott.thomson321 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Putting on my programmer hat for sec......
>
> The AI's are as good as they are taught to be. It takes time to "teach"
> them the information. The information being loaded into them is also not
> even. Maths and Engineering are first our fields not so much. I have
> dabbled every now and then writing prompts to teach ChatGTP taxonomic
> information. Remember when asking an AI for information you have to run a
> series of prompts to effectively teach it fields it has less information on.
>
> Cheers Scott
>
> On Mon, Feb 3, 2025 at 5:25 PM John Grehan via Taxacom <
> taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:
>
>> Just goes to show that whatever one might use one might get different
>> results.Makes my point.
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 3, 2025 at 3:19 PM Roderic Page via Taxacom <
>> taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:
>>
>> > Hi John,
>> >
>> > You might want to try that again. Using ChatGPT 4o I get:
>> >
>> > "Yes, the genus Magnificus is considered monophyletic. A 2021 study by
>> > Grehan et al. provided evidence supporting this by identifying unique
>> > morphological features shared among species within the genus.
>> Specifically,
>> > they noted a distinctive shape of the ergosterol sclerite in the
>> anterior
>> > abdominal region and a unique pseudoteguminal arm in the male genitalia.
>> > These shared characteristics suggest that all species within the genus
>> > Magnificus descend from a common ancestor, supporting its monophyly.”
>> >
>> > The answer includes a link to your paper in PubMed
>> > https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2F33756654%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cd17abc580be245c3cc2c08dd4492e632%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638742120811082394%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ef5H8OvyVp2%2BOEvJ%2FwfHoRC%2B8Di4Va9Vyp%2F9Nt4uefA%3D&reserved=0
>> >
>> > Things are moving so fast that I'd resist making sweeping
>> generalisations
>> > just yet...
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> > Rod
>> >
>> > ---------------------------------------------------------
>> > Roderic Page
>> > Professor of Taxonomy
>> > School of Biodiversity, One Health, & Veterinary Medicine
>> > College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences
>> > Graham Kerr Building
>> > University of Glasgow
>> > Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
>> >
>> > Email: Roderic.Page at glasgow.ac.uk<mailto:Roderic.Page at glasgow.ac.uk>
>> > LinkedIn: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuk.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Frdmpage&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cd17abc580be245c3cc2c08dd4492e632%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638742120811098576%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=N5bfrEqeOrUwsLjLD2%2BHLoUCnrl1b79Y2Z7XRtd7TmI%3D&reserved=0
>> > Twitter: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Frdmpage&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cd17abc580be245c3cc2c08dd4492e632%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638742120811106787%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=kgyCgsLCp6QpJ38ycLic34Hio6I1Ue7UMiTz9NYylec%3D&reserved=0
>> > Telegram: rdmpage
>> > Blog: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fiphylo.blogspot.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cd17abc580be245c3cc2c08dd4492e632%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638742120811114912%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=fmRPCT6P%2B6y42AqtgYfyzeqZLthJyl7J42Uxp0gu9WM%3D&reserved=0<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fiphylo.blogspot.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cd17abc580be245c3cc2c08dd4492e632%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638742120811123151%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=pNQCvlw4fbi5rI%2FTqSjJof073VWO%2BJGcVyEwbK0Km9k%3D&reserved=0>
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>> > Citations:
>> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.co.uk%2Fcitations%3Fhl%3Den%26user%3D4Z5WABAAAAAJ&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cd17abc580be245c3cc2c08dd4492e632%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638742120811139495%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qHsQx1R4Y8Fvwfc%2BcE2Qf7%2BPSXwrOS7aZOsKfA%2FsvRk%3D&reserved=0
>> > ResearchGate https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fprofile%2FRoderic_Page&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cd17abc580be245c3cc2c08dd4492e632%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638742120811147487%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=JvohoG0CXpGFRPoI3XyjO2Pz4Kg65tDcIa7%2FzsqhpZw%3D&reserved=0
>> > On 3 Feb 2025 at 19:46 +0000, John Grehan via Taxacom <
>> > taxacom at lists.ku.edu>, wrote:
>> > I find 'artificial intelligence' to be one of those metaphors that is
>> more
>> > about creating a state of reality than reality itself (a bit like the
>> > 'barcode' metaphor).
>> >
>> > Just for the heck of it, I asked Chatgpg "is the genus Magnificus
>> > monophyletic?" (this is a genus of ghost moths). Answer: "Based on
>> current
>> > research and taxonomic classification, *Magnificus* is *not considered
>> > monophyletic*. In fact, it’s generally thought to be polyphyletic,
>> meaning
>> > that the species within the genus do not all share a single common
>> ancestor
>> > exclusive to that group. They are often found to be more closely
>> related to
>> > species in other genera than to each other."
>> >
>> > This is about as much BS that anyone could invent. I think it shows that
>> > the 'intelligence' of a computer is only as good as its sources. I
>> expect
>> > in taxonomy its sources are quite limited - especially if articles are
>> not
>> > open access or otherwise posted on the web.
>> >
>> > In another time wasting exercises (relatively speaking I don't have that
>> > much time left, so might as well waste some of it :) I asked 'what is
>> > panbiogeography' . In one answer I was told that I created
>> panbiogeography,
>> > in another question it was Michael Heads who created it. Of course
>> neither
>> > is correct, and I guess 1958 sinks to the bottom of the swamp where AI
>> does
>> > not dare to tread.
>> >
>> > Is there no hope for civilization?
>> >
>> > Cheers,
>> >
>> > John Grehan
>> >
>> > --
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