I’ve always dreamed of a tech gadget that combines something like Google Glass with AI to help me remember people’s names. I’m not sure why, but I forget names easily. And if I don’t see someone for a few months, the chances of remembering drop even further. So… AI to the rescue! Well, maybe one day.
For now, I love that AI can already help me identify things using my phone—like birds and plants.
This year, I started a birding big year project. Actually, two of them. One is called the Bird Nerd Project, which runs from Thanksgiving 2024 to Thanksgiving 2025, and focuses on identifying 200 bird species. The other is an eBirding project where I’m aiming to spot 250 species in the calendar year 2025. There’s some overlap between the two, so running both projects is doable. The eBird challenge doesn’t limit me by location, which means I can count birds I spot while on vacation too.
The challenge? I’m not great at identifying birds yet—and I’m color blind. Using a traditional field guide feels like assembling Legos in the dark. It’s frustrating. Luckily, I have three AI-powered tools that help:
🔍 My Three Favorite AI Bird ID Tools
- Apple’s Visual Lookup (iPhone AI)
This built-in feature is surprisingly accurate. Snap a good photo, and your iPhone will usually tell you what bird (or plant, or animal) you’re looking at. Easy and fast. - ChatGPT with the Bird Almanac plugin
In my opinion, this is even better. Not only is it good at identification, but it adds rich commentary, context, and sometimes even fun facts. - Merlin Bird ID
This one’s hit-or-miss for me, but I still use it as a tie-breaker. It’s especially helpful for identifying birds by their songs, which is great when I’m out walking without a camera-ready shot.
A Black-crowned Night Heron
As I’ve used these tools, I realized that Apple’s AI feature works on more than just birds. Plants, animals, buildings—just about anything can be named and researched. ChatGPT does this too, and for a nerd like me—not just a bird nerd, but a full-on, flashlight-toting nerd—I’m in heaven.
My phone is overflowing with photos of plants, lizards, rodents, moths, and butterflies. It’s a naming bonanza, and I couldn’t be happier.
A yellow-spotted bromeliad fly
It reminds me of a story my grandmother used to tell. She’d give me a flashlight and turn me loose in her backyard to explore. I’d spend hours discovering and naming everything I could find. My grandfather helped me identify things, and eventually handed me a field guide. That was all I needed—I was off on my own adventure.
These days, thanks to AI, I have a field guide in my hand at all times. I’m not sure what this means for the future of printed field guides, but it probably isn’t great. I’m also building a searchable image library as I go. All my finds end up in Obsidian, where I weave them into stories, projects, and memories.
Honestly, I’m perfectly happy just walking into my own backyard, phone in hand, spending time naming things. And I do it all the time.
Peanuts In My Pocket 
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