National Bird Day Meets Tech Play: A Birdwatching Experiment
Chestnut-backed chickadee| Image credits: Anish Lakkapragada via Unsplash
National Bird Day is celebrated in the USA every January 5, a perfect excuse to get outside and get a dose of nature. And yes, we can play with tech on the way!
Blending Nature and Technology
I love seeking touchpoints with nature on my travels; I’m the kind of woman who asks for a bird list when she checks into a hotel. (Mixed success.) I’m also the woman who wants to experiment with and experience the tech that I focus on through my work.
That’s why I recently bought myself a gift: an AI-enabled bird feeder.
Experimenting with AI in My Backyard
To be honest, this has been a kind of hilarious experiment. I must have tried about 5 places around my yard before I found a location for the feeder that has direct sunlight (for the solar panels, of course), decent WiFi signal, and doesn’t involve a camera pointing directly into my bedroom or bathroom (or my neighbor’s, for that matter). THEN I had to squirrel-proof the darned thing … which lasted for literally 3 minutes before the squirrels yanked over the birdhouse and I had to start all over! And naturally there was a firmware update to install before I could see anything.
Also, I seem to have enticed exactly three birds to come to this new feeder. Not three species, mind you. Three birds. Clearly I need to do some human-wildlife trust building in the coming months!
Lessons Learned from Feathered (and Furry) Friends
But here’s why this experiment has also been worth it!
💡Mental health benefits: Connecting with the natural world is great for mental health—even when squirrel battles are involved!
💡Playful exploration: It’s lots of fun to explore emerging tech through low-stakes applications. Here we’re essentially talking about computer vision (not super sexy LLMs … at least not yet) in daily life. In other words: I’m playing!
💡Joyful updates: I’m genuinely excited by notifications from the birdwatching app. No dread about a problem that I’ll need to solve, just a little thrill of hope that a new species has shown up. As long as that species is not, I repeat not, a squirrel.
💡Building connections: I’ve added some dear friends as Guests to my bird feeder. Which means that we’re connecting across thousands of miles around something that we all love. These folks are some pretty serious birders, so I’m learning more every day!
A Delightful Blend of Tech, Nature, and Connection
I’ve still got a long way to go as an AI-enabled bird watcher. But so far this adventure has been a delightful mix of tech, play, nature, and connections. It’s a great reminder that technology, when thoughtfully used, can enrich our lives and strengthen our bonds with both people and our planet.
Want to give AI-enabled birdwatching a try? Here are some product recommendations from WIRED magazine.
Happy birding!
About Tiffany
Dr. Tiffany Vora speaks, writes, and advises on how to harness technology to build the best possible future(s). She is an expert in biotech, health, & innovation.
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