When A.I. gets into birding

[Bird illustrations by the talented Carin Powell (10000badframes.tumblr.com http://carinpowell.wixsite.com/sheanimates)]

I train computer programs called neural networks to imitate datasets of human things. Basically, I give the neural network a long list of things like band names or guinea pig names to look at, and it does its best to figure out the rules that will let it generate more.

The neural network starts with a fresh slate every time, and becomes the World’s Biggest Fan of whatever it’s given - if I give it Pokemon names, it will invent Pokemon after Pokemon; if I give it Star Wars names, it will invent new characters like Darth Tina and Ban Sand.

There was one time when I gave the neural network a list of 37,000 common names of fish, and it invented fish that were, well, honestly no weirder than existing fish names. Fish names are That Weird.

Since that day, and even before, I have been hearing from birders. Any of you who know birders or are birders yourselves will not be surprised. Not only are birders very eager to find out what a neural network would make of bird species, they are also very organized. There is, for example, a downloadable checklist of about 32,000 birds, 14,000 of which have English common names. Big thanks to Kaija Gahm, Dana Terry, and Emily Davis, who sent me this and similar datasets.

The neural network, after reading intently through the entire list about 7 times, is now a dedicated birder.

I asked it to generate some birds. Not too wild - plausible.

Ecuadorian Helmeted Parrot

Slaty White-throated Fairy-bellied Ground-Tyrant

Tree Sunangel

Lazuli Cuckooshrike

Brown-headed Spadebill

Cape Babbler

Three-toed Wren-Babbler

Ground-Tyrant, I asked? Cuckooshrike? It turns out, yes. There are 57 cuckooshrikes, including a Cerulean Cuckooshrike and a Blue Cuckooshrike, but not an actual Lazuli Cuckooshrike. Similarly, that ground-tyrant would pass as plausible among birders.

Fine, I said. What does actual weird look like? I upped the neural network’s creativity level to 1.0, the highest level I usually use.

Nukh’s Dull Gull

Banded Spectacled Snake-Eagle

Thick-knee

Bunticus Gray-chinned Laughingthrush

Ecuadorian Strange-tailed Cuckoo

Violet-throated Tyrant-Eagle

Horned Yellow Flycatcher

Rusty-browed Highlark

Red-capped Lynert’s Leafbird

Dead Flycatcher

Potland Bustard

Beautiful Pulpertory

Fairy Warbler

Hottled Duck

Rufous-fronted Grassy Owl

Chestnut-bellied Ged Parrot-Weaver

Brown-breasted Leaftosser

Green-hooded Hawk

Burrowing Guineafowl

Unicolored Painted Blue-cowled White-browed Cave-Magpie

Ha, I said. Banded Spectacled Snake-Eagle? That’s hilarious.

Yes, the neural network would have replied (if it was equipped for conversation as well as for birding enthusiasm). Banded AND Spectacled? Ha!

It turns out there are 6 snake-eagles, 41 spectacled birds, and 106 banded birds, but nothing that’s banded AND spectacled.

I turned the creativity up to 1.2, a point at which for other datasets, the neural network is emitting unpronounceable strings of letters with only a vague resemblance to the original. Here’s what the birding neural net produced:

Violet-footed Macaw

Blue-winged Cruz White Kiwi

Buttlebird

Red-faced Imperial-Pigeon

Marabor Island Sooty-Whistler

Cornell’s Palm-Goose

Olive Stonechat

Rus Efricans Puffbird

Ringed Wattle-eye

Northern Narrow Lark

Indigo Mungletoe-Tyrant

Wilson’s Blue-eared Hummingbird

Eyebill Kingfisher

Crinete Bor-billed Mountain-eater

Pygmy Sea Shag

Laughing Fig-Warbler

Perplexaquail-Dove

Granted, even I am registering some of these as weird. Mountain-eater? The neural network made that up. But Wattle-eye, puffbird, stonechat, and shag are all real things. Apparently an *Olive* stonechat is just that weird.

At creativity 1.4 the results get stranger but not as strange as you’d think.

Humboldn’s Cuckoo-Eagle-Parrot

Adbau Mungle-Flycatcher

Forest Tern

Red Frogmouth

Freckled Love

Temetai African Pope Catbird

Dufous Partridge

Fawn-bellied Flowerpecker

Lavaranean Hawk

Hothell’s Hummingbird

Eastern Shove Crake

Long-tailed Honey-buzzard

Iceland Reedhaunter

Blood Flycatcher

Mungleh’s Wattle-eye

Slender-eared Chat

For reference, this is what a neural network trained on pie produces at creativity 1.4:

Dibble Ice Fraini Pien Daria Futgo Crustdamamatsna-LiGmeat Pieb

Pe sivle Hed Rice Frozen Mincemeat Mop shb

Impossible Titer: Fiag

Caramel Apple Wime Figl’s Topped Sugrum’s Pumpar

The birders are probably nodding in agreement with the neural network, though. “FOREST Tern? That’s unutterably silly.”

Finally, once I have increased the creativity to 1.6, I declare the neural network’s names to be Obviously Strange.

Maddeel’s Woodhaunter

African White-capped Hocky Owl

Fairy-collared Barblering Bush-Roe Hyra

Dusky Sicky-faced Petrel

White-throated Sukbird

Koopa

paucosian Rivetpecker

Hoaly Titco’s Badwinch

Snowy Mourning Heron-Robin

Javan Clamper Leafbird

Dog-winged Buczardle

Red-bellied Pale-tufted Junkletar

Moustached White Owl

Pacific Three-hong-toed Thick-dee

Buttmanxwecir

Mar Punybill

Ledt’s Cockadoo

Mountain-rumpting-Finch

warn-winged Wood-banded-Black-breasted Stesing-Patein-fronted Crimsonwing

I generated even more birds at even higher creativity levels - if you’d like them, sign up here and I’ll email them to you. I went all the way up to creativity level 1.8, at which point it generated a bird simply called “Strange”.