Exploring permaculture…
AI and permaculture: what future?
Permaculture practitioners have tussled with new technology in the past. Now, along comes AI to offer a new challenge.
What happened?
I was curious. What would anyone going to Chat GTP in search of permaculture educators find? Who would be listed? Who would miss out? I asked Apple’s Chat GTP integration into its new operating system, 18.2.
Here it its response:
“Several permaculture educators in Australia include:
- Geoff Lawton, founder of the Permaculture Research Institute
- David Holmgren, co-originator of permaculture
- Rosemary Morrow, known for her work in permaculture education.
Other notable figures are:
- Robyn Francis, founder of the Permaculture College Australia
- Peter and Hannah Bennett, who run the Permaculture Education Institute.
For a comprehensive list, you might consider visiting the Permaculture Australia website.”
So far, so good. Or was it? I had heard of the Permaculture Education Institute but something in the AI response didn’t seem right. It was this: the Institute is not run by Peter and Hannah Bennett. It is Morag Gamble’s institute.
Curious, I made a web search for Peter and Hannah Bennett. The result? Nothing. None. They do not exist according to a search using the Duck Duck Go search engine.
The search produced two results. Probably triggered by the ‘Hannah’ in the search field, one was for Hannah Moloney, the Hobart-based permaculture educator from Good Life Permaculture. The other was ABC Gardening Australia, a TV gardening program.
Four correct identifications of permaculture teachers, one erroneous. Seems there is something of a mix-up here. The search offers us an example of how AI results have to be cross-checked. It might get it right most of the time, but that odd error can be misleading.
That wasn’t all. You and I know that there are more permaculture educators in Australia than the five listed. So what is going on here? I can only assume they do not have a high enough online presence to make the scan. Why the AI separated the first three from the two following is an intriguing question—a ‘black box’ function, perhaps—that could only be answered by the algorithm involved (I didn’t ask it).
Still curious, I cross-checked the same question with another AI and this is what it told me: “Permaculture education in Australia has a rich history and a vibrant community. Here are some notable educators and organizations involved in this movement:
Prominent Permaculture Educators:
- Bill Mollison: Often referred to as the “father of permaculture,” he co-founded the permaculture movement in the 1970s and authored several foundational texts on the subject
- David Holmgren: A co-founder of permaculture, Holmgren has contributed significantly to its principles and practices, particularly through his book “Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability.”
- Rosemary Morrow: An influential educator in permaculture, she has authored numerous books and is known for her work in international development and education
- Geoff Lawton: A well-known permaculture consultant and educator, Lawton runs the Permaculture Research Institute and offers various online courses.”
The AI went on: “Organizations:
- Permaculture Australia: The national body for the permaculture movement, promoting education, networking, and the sharing of resources.
- The Permaculture Institute: Offers training and resources for educators and practitioners, focusing on sustainable practices.
- Permaculture Research Institute: Provides educational resources and courses, along with practical projects and community initiatives.
- Local Permaculture Groups: Many regions in Australia have local groups that conduct workshops, courses, and community projects, fostering local engagement with permaculture principles.
Educational Programs:
Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) courses are widely offered across Australia, providing foundational knowledge and practical skills. Many organizations and educators also offer specialized workshops, online courses, and hands-on training in various aspects of permaculture, including gardening, landscape design, and sustainability practices.
For anyone interested in permaculture, Australia provides a wealth of resources and learning opportunities to explore sustainable living and ecological design.”
A more comprehensive response this time but it did not mention Bill Mollison as ‘the late-Bill Mollison’. Yet, prominent educators such as Morag Gamble and Jo Dean are missing. So are all those others. All we have is a summary delineated by prominence, time in permaculture, online presence and persistence in permaculture education.
The results are partial at best. Only the most established and prominent permaculture educators get a mention.
Backstory
A little background. AI:
- is trained on vast amounts of data gleaned from multiple online sources, both textual and graphic
- this is used to identify patterns and relationships through machine learning processes
- biomimics the neural networking of the human brain to process information for continuous learning.
Now, to permaculture
In December 2024 I posted on Australian permaculture facebook channels a link to a story about a traditional food growing technique in which, lacking a photo, I used a graphic produced by generative AI. That was an experiment on my part. The graphic bore little resemblance to reality, however it was not intended to, being neither a photograph nor an illustration.
I had in the past been taught the value of the saying, ‘keep the main thing the main thing’, and was surprised when virtually all of the comments to the story were about using the generative AI graphic and not about the food growing technique. Adopting that saying means that you let go of little things that you do not like and stay focused on the topic. Not in permaculture, it seemed. And what of permaculture’s much-trumpted principle of diversity? Doesn’t that apply in thinking and personal action too?
Most comments were negative, pointing out the massive energy consumption of generative AI tech. I fully go along with that (and with allegations of inaccuracy as the above example shows and the intellectual property question) and do not generally make use of generative AI, however I was following the proposal of technology expert and author, Kevin Kelly, that rather than simply opposing a technology we do not like, we engage with it and in doing so, perhaps with others, we can influence change in it. That seemed a more positive and practical course because no matter how many in permaculture and outside it avoid AI they cannot stop it. It is here. It is not going away. Some in permaculture are already engaging with it, including a prominent Australian permaculture practitioner and others in other countries. AI is also embedded in the computers, the internet search engines and the social media those critical of my use of the graphic made use of to post their complaint.
About those negative comments… while some highlighted the energy consumption of AI, other carried a more accusatory tone for my daring to use a technology they did not approve of. This spoke of an embedded technophobia in permaculture and came across as a little superior in attitude. In suggesting I would be better off quitting a particular permaculture social media channel, one commentator turned the conversation away from AI and into an ad hominin attack. Cancel culture was not a stranger in permaculture, it seemed, and it reeked of cultish behaviour.
A few posts were open to AIs potential and one or two were supportive in a general sense. This is indicative of the response of the broad permaculture milieu towards new technologies. Generally, permaculture’s response has been sceptical and often negative. However, a truly sceptical response puts aside opinion and decisions about the technology until we have hard and comprehensive evidence as to its social, environmental or other impacts and values. Where does this response come from? I see two sources. The first of these is experience. We have seen how new technologies can often negatively impact natural and social environments (the Law of Unintended Consequences — https://medium.com/permaculture-3-0/how-operation-catdrop-saved-the-day-809073ae2660?source=friends_link&sk=9cb093f39648b47a752e56ab8cebda78). This triggers an inherent ‘negativity bias’ which is precautionary. The negativity bias is a product of human evolution. It makes us stop to consider the implications of doing something.
The other possible source of scepticism about new technologies comes from permaculture's own ‘charismatic authority’, as retired Melbourne sociology academic, Terry Leahy, put it in his book, The Politics of Permaculture. Of course we are talking about David Holmgren, the co-developer of the permaculture concept. In his writing David makes no secret of his scepticism about particular modern technologies. I think David’s attitude has permeated through the permaculture movement thanks to his position in the movement and the substantial influence which comes with that.
I have adopted the sceptic’s attitude to AI. I acknowledge its massive use of energy and its other problems. That is fact. There is hard evidence for it. Its potential impact on employment is conjecture at the moment, not fact, even though it might turn out to be true.
What they're saying
Some, myself included, say that we need to exercise caution in using AI in permaculture work or in any other field. This is because it can contain errors. I demonstrated this above. Some AI warn that results might contain errors. If it draws upon erroneous or misleading information or upon disinformation, there is a chance that it will repeat it in its response. Is this the long-established computing principle we know as GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out?
What this suggests is that we need to match what AI reports with what we already know about a topic and check what is says against other sources. It’s a fact checking exercise similar to how disinformation is treated. There is also the intellectual property issue, however that and the other negative aspects of AI are for another story.
Between the lines
Some in permaculture are already utilising AI (partial list at end of story). Others are skeptical.
I put this down to the polarised attitude towards technologies that has been evident within the permaculture milieu for some years. Genetic manipulation of crops is another case where permaculture opinion is divided, as is nuclear energy (I too am skeptical of these) and hydroponics. In that time I have seen a softening attitude towards new tech, much of it anyway, with practitioners now more accepting of that which offers useful tools for our permaculture work. Will that happen with AI? It is already happening.
What does it mean?
With only the most prominent educators getting a mention to my question, it makes those just getting into teaching less findable.
That is a feature of conventional web searches too. To be findable, educators and other practitioners have to be visible. It’s a signal-to-noise ratio thing — the signal being the educators, the noise being the rest of the activity online, the clutter from which the signal needs to stand out. This is why educators maintain websites and participate in social media. Social media is the contemporary version of word-of-mouth information transmission. Skip it, and you are less visible to most people searching for information about permaculture and where to find a course because that is where people go for information today.
Another meaning is that of permaculture attitude to new technology. I am not saying that we embrace it unquestioningly or that we automatically reject it. What I suggest is that we take the skeptic’s attitude and don’t judge it before all the evidence is in, and it is still coming in.
What will happen now?
AI is being improved and with that comes the hope that less-prominent permaculture educators will soon be listed in future searches. Meanwhile, they might scale-up their online presence to become more noticeable to roaming AI skimmers.
As for permaculture, AI is another thing we have to assess and come to terms with outside the polarised boundaries of accept-reject and adopt/oppose.
Of note
If you teach permaculture, how do you maintain an online presence?
If you are a techie, how would permaculture educators go about getting a mention in AI searches?
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Readings and viewings about permaculture and AI
Note: I have not viewed all of these sources. If you do, why not leave a comment on them in the comments below?
Note for the easily triggered: The sources that follow make use of regenerative AI illustrations.
World Permaculture Association
Artificial intelligence meets permacuture: a sustainabe revolution in modern agriculture
https://worldpermacultureassociation.com/ai-and-permaculture-revolution/
permies.com
AI Based Agroecology Tools and AI Safety
The Rike
Role of AI in enhancing biodiversity within permaculture farms
https://therike.com/blogs/sustainable-living/the-concept-of-holistic-permaculture
Permaculture Appentice
My unfiltered thoughts about AI in permaculture
TEAMSdesign
Expand the Horizon — AI managed permacultures
Deep Green permaculture
Does Permaculture Work? This Is What AI Has To Say…
Beyond Buckthorns
Thoughts about Artificial Intelligence in permaculture in context of the Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design
Using AI text generators to tell the permaculture story
YouTube
AI and Permaculture: A Sustainable Future
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxAVK-xKIyA
Should Permaculture Urbanism Use AI?
Designing Beautiful Gardens The Future of AI in Permaculture