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Time to automate identification

Nature volume 467, pages 154–155 (2010)Cite this article

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Taxonomists should work with specialists in pattern recognition, machine learning and artificial intelligence, say Norman MacLeod, Mark Benfield and Phil Culverhouse — more accuracy and less drudgery will result.

Taxonomists who identify, describe and name species (who practise alpha taxonomy, as it is known in the trade) are central to many research programmes in applied biology, ecology and conservation. University cuts are shrinking this already small community. What's more, there is no tradition of — much less a requirement for — independent testing and verification of the accuracy of the identifications that taxonomists produce, unlike in virtually every other scientific discipline.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norman MacLeod is in the Palaeontology Department of the Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK. n.macleod@nhm.ac.uk,

    Norman MacLeod

  2. Mark Benfield is in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, School of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA. mbenfie@lsu.edu,

    Mark Benfield

  3. Phil Culverhouse is at the Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA. UK. pculverhouse@plymouth.ac.uk ,

    Phil Culverhouse

Authors
  1. Norman MacLeod
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  2. Mark Benfield
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  3. Phil Culverhouse
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MacLeod, N., Benfield, M. & Culverhouse, P. Time to automate identification. Nature 467, 154–155 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/467154a

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