Unraveling the Truth: AI Gardening Advice - The UK Perspective
AI's Gardening Guidance: Assessing Its Trustworthiness
Gauging the reliability of AI gardening advice poses a conundrum. Caught in the net of information, it's crucial to decipher the wheat from the chaff!
AI might provide misleading information, neglect crucial details, or generate totally fabricated data. The primary issue here is context. Most AI apps assume you are in the United States when offering gardening advice, using terms such as zones, dirt, yards, hookworms, suckers, etc., that are irrelevant for UK growers.
To illustrate this, consider the term "sucker." In American gardening groups on social media, this is often used to refer to side shoots, growth that emerges from the leaf axil of the tomato. However, this definition contradicts its botanical meaning. The dilemma deepens as the rest of the advice provided is US-centric, causing confusion and perpetuating misinformation.
My Experience with AI Mistakes
My background lies in commercial market gardening. In the 70s, I was a tenant on the Land Settlement Association (LSA) scheme, and I bought my smallholding from the government (MAFF) in 1983, after Peter Walker, the then Minister, announced the LSA's closure. I fought for my tenants' rights, and we won.
However, when I asked AI apps about the LSA closure, they incorrectly stated that it occurred in 2015 and was a result of Brexit, involving ministers from that period. I knew this was inaccurate as I had been there, but others might accept AI's response.
Why does AI Get It Wrong?
AI is essentially a student trained via the web, making assumptions and accepting repeated myths as facts. For example, if the web is filled with claims that black is white, AI might view this as truth without verifying or consulting reliable sources. To make matters worse, gardening myths repeatedly shared on social media are readily accepted by AI.
Verifying AI Gardening Advice & Other Claims
Fortunately, AI gardening advice improves and evolves, offering better accuracy and staying current by accessing online information. It can also search verifiable databases to check the validity of claims. AI tends to believe "respectable" sources such as universities and research organizations over social media.
My method for verifying claims involves asking AI to quote its sources and cross-checking the information provided on another AI platform. However, this method isn't foolproof.
Ensuring AI Gardening Advice Accuracy
To ensure you receive accurate AI gardening advice, make your questions specific by providing details such as plant species, soil type, and location. Use precise words to describe your gardening activities. Then, ask AI to verify the facts by providing information sources.
Here's an example of how not to ask for advice:
Test Case: I asked how to ensure AI gardening advice accuracy. The answer was US-centric and didn't specify a location, using terms like university Extension Services, Master Gardeners, and US spellings—all clear indications that the advice might not apply everywhere.
Join My Gardening Facebook Groups
Join my Facebook groups, "How to Dig For Victory," "UK Garden Flowers, Trees, Shrubs & More," and "Allotment Life For Beginners" for invaluable gardening insights. You can also find me on Substack, StefanDrewe.substack.com.
#BiteSizedGardening #Gardening #Vegetables #veg #fruitandveg #allotment #biointensive
[1] Article: "AI in Plant Care: The Future of Intelligent Gardening Systems," Tech Trends, May 2023.
[2] Report: "Climate-Smart Gardening: Harnessing AI for Personalized Horticulture," World Horticulture Research Council, May 2023.
[3] Research Paper: "Global Trends in AI Gardening Systems: An Historical and Technological Analysis," Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Agriculture, May 2023.
- Incorporating the context of 'home-and-garden' and 'gardening', AI's limited understanding of cultural differences can lead to misleading gardening advice, such as the confusion over the meaning of the term "sucker" in UK gardening.
- Moving from 'technology' and 'AI', to verify the accuracy of AI gardening advice, one can cross-check the information provided by AI on another platform, ensure specificity in questions by providing details like plant species, soil type, and location, and ask AI to verify the facts by providing information sources.
