Chat

Peter Orchard

Chat with Sidmouth Nature to ask questions

Thanks to the latest artificial intelligence tools, especially Google NotebookLM, it is now possible to 'chat' with this website and ask questions about the natural world around Sidmouth, from basic geology to details about slime moulds and everything in between! 

What can you ask questions about?

The Sidmouth Nature website contains over 1,600 articles which forms the knowledge base with information about:

  • Basic geology
  • Different habitat types
  • Local sites of natural interest
  • Animals and plants that might be found
  • Assorted other relevant items of interest

To supplement this there is the Sidmouth Nature website database with over 10,000 individual records of species seen, where it was seen and when it was seen.

The website 'chatbot' works ONLY with these sources of information to provide an area-focused response to any question you might ask.

What sort of questions can you ask?

  • You can ask simple, specific questions such as "Tell me about blackbirds" or "Tell me about The Byes"  or "Where can I see orchids?"
  • You can ask compound, complex questions such as "What is the small, yellow four petalled flower I have just seen on Muttersmoor?"  or "What wild flowers can I see on The Knapp in July?" or "What varieties of buttercups occur in the area and how do I distinguish between them?"
  • You can ask generalised, conceptual questions along the lines of "How does the geology of Sidmouth influence the species of birds seen in the area?" or "How has the course of the River Sid been changed over the years?" or "How do plants manage to survive on the shingle beach"
  • You can ask follow-on questions you may have that arise from the initial answer to any question you ask.

How is the this facility provided?

The 'chat' facility is provided by linking the website knowledge base and database to the Google NotebookLM app. When you click the link to continue you will leave this website and the associated 'notebook' in NotebookLM will be opened and the 'chat' section will be displayed.Here you conduct your 'chat'; if you want to record the answers to your questions you will need to copy the text and paste it into another app you use for note taking or word processing. 

Please keep in mind that being AI it can make mistakes or misinterpret content so use the information with a degree of caution.

 

Click here to open NotebookLM and interact with the Sidmouth Nature 'chatbot'