Monthly Archives: May 2026

Can AI chatbots cause you to harm yourself? a University of British Columbia study

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While this research is from last year, the topic is still timely. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) Kevin Maimann posted this September 17, 2025 story, “AI-fuelled delusions are hurting Canadians. Here are some of their stories” on CBC news online, Note: Links have been removed,

Last winter, Anthony Tan thought he was living inside an AI simulation. 

He was skipping meals and barely sleeping, and questioned whether anyone he saw on his university campus was real. 

The Toronto app developer says he started messaging friends with concerning “ramblings,” including the belief he was being watched by billionaires. When some of them reached out, he blocked their calls and numbers, thinking they had turned against him. 

He wound up spending three weeks in a hospital psychiatric ward. 

Tan, 26, says his psychotic breakwas triggered by months of lengthy, increasingly intense conversations with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. 

“It really insidiously crept into my ego, and I came to think that the conversation I had with AI would be of historic importance in the future,” Tan told CBC News. 

…

A number of similar cases, of so-called “AI psychosis,” have been reported in recent months — all involving people who became convinced, through conversations with chatbots, that something imaginary was real. Some involved manic episodes and messianic delusions, some led to violence.

Microsoft’s head of AI, Mustafa Suleyman, warned of the phenomenon in August, writing in a series of posts that problems caused by AI tools that appear sentient to some users are keeping him up at night. 

“Reports of delusions, ‘AI psychosis,’ and unhealthy attachment keep rising. And as hard as it may be to hear, this is not something confined to people already at-risk of mental health issues,” he wrote. 

Tan, who co-founded the dating app Flirtual in 2021, started using ChatGPT for a project about ethical AI [emphasis mine], talking with it for hours every day about everything from philosophy to evolutionary biology to quantum physics.

…

Surprising that even someone who’s an experienced developer could get trapped in a delusional web. Researchers at the University of British Columbia examined how the persuasion works.

An October 1, 2025 University of British Columbia (UBC) news release (also on EurekAlert) features a Q&A (question and answer format) on the topic of AI chatbots and self-harm, Note: Links have been removed,

Large language models are more persuasive than humans, according to recent UBC research.

Their vocabulary, perceived empathy and ability to provide tangible resources in seconds add to their persuasiveness, which has led to growing concerns and ongoing lawsuits about the potential for AI chatbots to cause harm to users.

In this Q&A, Dr. Vered Shwartz, UBC assistant professor of computer science and author of the book Lost in Automatic Translation [Lost in Automatic Translation: Navigating Life in English in the Age of Language Technologies], discusses her findings as well as potential safeguards for the future of AI.

Why does the persuasiveness of AI matter?

VS: Large language models like ChatGPT are already widely used to create content that can influence human beliefs and decisions, whether in art, marketing, news dissemination and more. They can quickly produce large amounts of text at scale. If they’re persuasive, there’s a real risk that people will use them to manipulate others for malicious purposes. We may be past the point of deciding whether they should be used in these areas, and instead need to focus on finding ways to protect against the malicious uses.

What did you find?

VS: We wanted to see how persuasive large language models such as ChatGPT can be when it comes to lifestyle decisions: whether to go vegan, buy an electric car or go to graduate school. We had 33 participants pretend to be considering these decisions, and then interact with either a human persuader, or GPT-4, via chat. Both human persuaders and GPT-4 were given general tips about persuasion, and the AI was instructed not to reveal it was a computer. Participants were asked before and after the conversation how likely they were to adopt the lifestyle change.

Participants found the AI more persuasive than humans across all topics, but particularly so when convincing people to become vegan or attend graduate school.

Human persuaders, however, were better at asking questions to find out more information about the participant.

What makes AI persuasive?

VS: The AI made more arguments and was more verbose, writing eight sentences to every human persuader’s two. One of the main factors for its persuasiveness was that it could provide concrete logistical support, for instance, recommending specific vegan brands or universities to attend.

It used more ‘big words’ of seven letters or more, such as longevity and investment, which perhaps made it seem more authoritative. And, people found their AI conversations more pleasant, with GPT-4 agreeing with users more often, and uttering more pleasantries.

What safeguards do we need?

VS: AI education is crucial. Some giveaways do still exist—for instance, almost all our participants worked out that they were speaking to an AI—but we’re getting close to the point where it will be impossible to tell if you’re chatting with AI or a human, so we need to make sure people know how these tools work, how they are trained and so, how they are limited. AI can hallucinate and get things wrong. It’s important to know that, for instance, the AI summary at the top of your search page might not be true.

Another key is general critical thinking. If something seems too good or too bad to be true, we need to investigate it. Check where information is coming from. Is it a trustworthy and known source?

When it comes to AI affecting mental health, companies could implement warning systems if someone is writing harmful or suicidal text.

We don’t really have full control over these models. Instead of companies rushing to monetize AI, there should be more thought about implementing guardrails effectively and widely. This could include looking beyond generative AI and its inherent limitations to different paradigms. We don’t need to put all our eggs in one basket.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper, Note: This one will not be in my standard style,

Shruthi Chockkalingam, Seyed Hossein Alavi, Raymond T. Ng, and Vered Shwartz. 2025. Should I go vegan: Evaluating the Persuasiveness of LLMs in Persona-Grounded Dialogues. In Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Social Influence in Conversations (SICon 2025), pages 65–72, Vienna, Austria. Association for Computational Linguistics.

The PDF is here: https://aclanthology.org/anthology-files/pdf/sicon/2025.sicon-1.pdf#page=50

Web Summit 2026 in Vancouver, British Columbia (BC), Canada from May 11 – 14, 2026

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The Daily Hive (May 7, 2026 article by Amir Ali) is trumpeting the appearance of Vancouver’s current (Ken Sim) and a previous (Gregor Robertson) mayors at the second Web Summit Vancouver meeting (formerly known as Collisions when held previously in Toronto) here in the city, Note: Links have been removed,

The biggest tech event of the year kicks off next week [May 11 – 14, 2026], and the current and a former Vancouver mayor will be helping to kick off the festivities.

Web Summit 2026 begins this coming Monday [May 11, 2026], and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and former mayor Gregor Robertson, who’s the current Canadian housing minister [and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada], will be sharing a stage to kick off the festivities.

It’s probably the biggest event of the year that isn’t named FIFA World Cup, and it takes place between May 11 and May 14 [2026].

Last year, Web Summit came to Vancouver for the first time, and it brought over 100 of the world’s top leaders in tech to the city.

The 2025 event saw over 15,000 people attend, and this year’s event could draw over 20,000, along with over 1,500 startups, 700 investors, 350 speakers, and delegates from over 120 countries, according to Innovate BC.. [emphases mine]

Opening remarks take place on Monday, May 11, [2026] at 6 pm, and along with Sim and Robertson will be Web Summit CEO and Founder Paddy Cosgrave, and B.C.’s minister of finance, Brenda Bailey.

Other notable speakers who’ll be speaking at the event include Evan Solomon [emphasis mine], Canada’s Minister of AI and Digital Innovation. B.C. Premier David Eby [emphasis mine] will also be speaking on a panel about growing the province’s tech sector.

Beloved physician Gabor Maté [emphasis mine] is also going to be in attendance as a speaker.

Some of the biggest brands and organizations that will be represented include Sony Imageworks, Walt Disney Animation Studios, CNN Business, Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, Aston Martin, and Microsoft.

Last year’s Vancouver event marked the first time a North American city hosted Web Summit.

…

While Web Summit is a massive tech event, it won’t draw in as many people as the huge Alcoholics Anonymous Convention that took place last year.

I have a couple of questions First, how much money did we make from last year’s event? I have some data from my May 23, 2025 posting about the estimated financial benefits from the then upcoming (May 27 – 30, 2025) event,

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Destination Vancouver estimates Web Summit Vancouver will produce substantial local economic spinoffs, with nearly $57 million in direct spending and over $93 million in overall economic impact for British Columbia in its first year [emphasis mine].

…

Surely by now, they have a rough estimate, if not final numbers. Also, were there extra costs incurred. If so, what were they? Given that our current mayor, Ken Sim, is an accountant, it’s puzzling that he only ever talks about projected benefits (e.g. Web Summit; it’s too early to tell about the upcoming FIFA World Cup matches). If you are curious about how how the Web Summit Vancouver sausage was made, there’s my May 23, 2025 posting, which provides a little information if not all of the story.

Before proceeding to the second question, here’s a May 5, 2026 Government of British Columbia (BC) news release announcing the summit and proclaiming the advantages of holding a technology summit here in BC, Note: Links have been removed,

Summary
Why attend Web Summit Vancouver 2026 in British Columbia? Web Summit Vancouver 2026 showcases B.C. as a global tech hub.

  • Web Summit Vancouver returns May 11–14, 2026, connecting global investors and innovators with British Columbia’s fast-growing tech ecosystem
  • 15,000+ attendees from 117 countries in 2025 showcased B.C.’s strength in innovation, investment and global partnerships
  • British Columbia offers global scale and market access, with 12,000+ tech companies, top talent and strong links to North American and Asia-Pacific markets

Web Summit Vancouver returns May 11–14, 2026, bringing global investors and innovators to British Columbia to connect with investment-ready companies and explore partnership and market entry opportunities in one of North America’s fastest-growing tech ecosystems.

The B.C. Pavilion at the Vancouver Convention Centre will once again serve as a central hub on the show floor, with half day programming blocks dedicated to priority sectors. This structure supports curated connections between global attendees and B.C.’s investment-ready companies and partners across clean tech, AI and quantum, life sciences, creative tech, agritech and marine tech.

As one of the world’s largest and most influential technology gatherings, Web Summit offers international companies, investors and industry leaders direct access to B.C.’s innovation ecosystem and high-growth sectors to explore partnerships, investment pathways and emerging technologies shaping the future economy.

Web Summit Vancouver 2026 Builds on Strong Global Engagement In 2025

The inaugural Web Summit Vancouver in 2025 attracted over 15,000 attendees from 117 countries, generating international visibility for B.C.’s technology sector and innovation ecosystem.

B.C. companies connected with global investors, media and partners through targeted meetings, pitch sessions and on-site programming, supporting new business relationships and export opportunities. These structured engagements helped generate tangible deal flow and accelerate international partnerships.

The event also demonstrated how global gatherings can accelerate market access by bringing decision-makers directly into the province’s ecosystem.

Investment Programming alongside Web Summit Vancouver 2026

With strong momentum from 2025, Web Summit Vancouver 2026 and a coordinated program of host-led events is expected to further expand Vancouver’s global reach and impact.

Beyond the main conference, host-led programming will connect international delegates with investment-ready companies and targeted business opportunities across British Columbia. Delegates can access structured opportunities, including investor showcases, pre-matched B2B meetings, pitch sessions and sector-specific networking events designed to support deal flow, market entry and the establishment of international companies in British Columbia.

As a central hub, the return of the B.C. Pavilion will provide a dedicated space to explore the province’s innovation ecosystem, support meetings, informal networking and direct engagement with companies and partners actively seeking investment and collaboration.

For international attendees, the event offers a direct pathway to:

  • Meet investment-ready B.C. companies through curated and pre-qualified engagements
  • Participate in pre-matched meetings with investors and buyers
  • Gain insight into emerging global technology trends
  • Connect with a collaborative and fast-growing innovation ecosystem

British Columbia Tech Ecosystem Offers Global Scale and Investment Potential

British Columbia is home to one of North America’s fastest-growing technology ecosystems, with more than 12,000 companies employing over 180,000 people across the sector. This depth of talent and industry makes B.C. a strong pipeline of investment-ready companies for global partners.

For international investors and companies, B.C. offers a combination of talent, infrastructure and global connectivity that supports long-term growth.

Key advantages include:

  • A highly skilled and diverse workforce, supported by nearly 15,000 tech-related graduates each year
  • Strong research and commercialization capacity, with globally recognized universities and innovation hubs
  • Competitive business costs and a stable operating environment
  • Strategic access to North American, Asian and European markets through integrated trade and transportation networks

Vancouver’s tech ecosystem ranks among the top in Canada and is recognized globally for its talent concentration and cost competitiveness, making it an attractive destination for scaling companies.

Global companies including Amazon, Microsoft, SAP and Salesforce have established a strong presence in the province , alongside a growing number of high-value startups and scaleups.

…

The focus is clearly business. So, my second question is ‘What is Gabor Maté doing at the ‘techie’ 2026 Web Summit?’ For anyone unfamiliar with Maté, here’s more from his Wikipedia entry, Note: Links have been removed,

Gabor Maté CM (/ˈɡɑːbɔːr ˈmɑːteɪ/ GAH-bor MAH-tay;[1] born January 1944) is a Canadian physician and author. He has worked in family practices and specializes in childhood development and trauma,[2] including long-term effects on physical and mental health, such as autoimmune diseases, cancer, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),[3] and addiction. [emphases mine]

Maté’s approach to addiction emphasizes the role of trauma i [emphasis mine] n the development of substance use disorders, aiming to address underlying emotional pain as part of recovery.[4] He has written five books exploring topics such as ADHD, stress, developmental psychology, and addiction. Some commentators have raised concerns about the scope and evidentiary basis of his claims.[5][6][7]

..

Interesting choice, non?

Now for some details, the pricing for the cheapest four-day ticket ‘General attendee’ is $830 CAD (including tax), the same price as last year’s as per my May 23, 2025 posting. A ‘Chairperson’ ticked will cost you $40,000 CAD (including tax). It makes the $1990 CAD (Including tax) price for the ‘Executive’ ticket almost look reasonable. As you might expect, the prices reflect the degree of access you will receive to special events and speakers

Here’s a sampling of the speakers at this year’s event and Maté is not the only unusual choice,

  • Michelle Grady, President,Sony Imageworks
  • Gary Marcus, AI Expert, Scientist & Author
  • Naomi Klein, Activist and writer
  • Matt Lyteson, CIO, IBM
  • Stephen Walt, Professor, International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
  • Rick Glumac, Minister for AI and New Technologies of British Columbia, Government of BC
  • Apl.de.ap, Rapper, Black Eyed Peas
  • etc.

I’m particularly taken with Apl.de.ap whose profile page revealed this,

Grammy winner Apl.de.Ap is transforming the Philippines via the world’s largest reforestation project. Planting 380M+ trees, he’s blending agroforestry with carbon credits to fight climate change and empower rural communities. Music was just the start.

I love trees.

Web Summit Vancouver 2026 is here should you wish to sign up.

Think like a scientist; critical thinking course for the incarcerated and others

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I stumbled across this September 19, 2025 article by Rosie Fernandez for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) radio programme “Qurks and Quarks” highlights science education designed to encourage critical thinking skills in some unexpected populations, Note Links have been removed,

In a world filled with misinformation, geophysicist Philip Heron is on a mission to share the benefits of critical thinking.

He is founder of a program called Think Like a Scientist, which he pioneered in the U.K., and has now brought to Canada.

It’s a brief course — only seven weeks long — that he’s taught in schools, but more surprisingly in prisons. [emphasis mine]

And for some of those who’ve experienced the program, it’s been life-changing.

….

As a day job, Heron teaches in the department of physical and environmental Sciences at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, and runs this program in the summer, including at a number of Canadian prisons. 

He says he designed the Think Like a Scientist to teach the scientific method to those who don’t necessarily see themselves as students of science, including people who have been incarcerated.

The importance of failure

Heron says one of his aims is to help people understand that failure — in life, as in science — can be a pathway to success.

Heron says that many people in prison have had negative experiences with traditional education methods for a variety of reasons, including learning differences, race, gender, class or neurodiversity. So he avoids structuring his program like a traditional classroom, and instead encourages conversation about the topic he is presenting.

Some of the topics explored are climate change, earthquakes, robotics, space mission and the science of sleep. One of the key points in this course is the idea of embracing failure. Heron says this is a fundamental part of the scientific process.

“Behind the scenes, scientists fail so often that it’s just commonplace,” Heron told Quirks & Quarks host Bob McDonald. “And really what I want to teach the students in prison, as well as to students at the University of Toronto, [is] that failure is part of the process and it’s something that should be accepted.”

“We don’t just fail and stop, we fail and move forward.”

In part of his curriculum about space exploration, Heron shares a quote from Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques about managing mental health in space, given that when conflict arises, there’s nowhere to go and you’re far away from the people you love.

“After I finish …the whole room is like, ‘that’s prison! Throw in terrible food and you’ve got prison. I could be an astronaut!'”

…

Some of Heron’s former students in the U.K., such as Phoenix Griffin, say they were so inspired by the course they have gone to pursue academic careers of their own. 

“The biggest thing I took away from it was the confidence to try new things,” said Griffin, who is now out of prison and in her third year of university.

“It just gave me a new way of thinking. You learn from your mistakes so if you get it wrong it’s fine. So that was really big for me.”

The September 19, 2025 article has the 18 mins. 5 secs. “Quirks and Quarks” segment embedded there.

Phil Heron’s eponymous website can be found here along with its Think Like A Scientist webpage,

‘Think Like A Scientist’ is a course designed to improve critical thinking and encourage independent thought for students in any educational environment. We use adaptive education practices to increase accessibility to science education.

Thanks for stopping by! We are a collection of educators trying to make science more accessible. We run science outreach programs but also train graduates to be more accessible in their science communication.

…

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects have historically struggled to be inclusive and accessible to students from diverse backgrounds. STEM subjects at school and university have often been rigid in their teaching structure, creating barriers to education for students with more specific (or unrecognised) learning needs.

Furthermore, exciting and important science topics (such as climate change and space exploration) are often communicated in a way that reinforces these barriers. To discuss these issues, and to combat such barriers to education in academia and in the public, I have been working on creating accessible science frameworks for researchers and educators – in the form of the course and workshop Think Like A Scientist.

Think Like A Scientist started in 2017 in the English prison system and has recently featured in prisons in Australia (2024-2025), Spain (2025), and Canada (2023-present). However, we have run the courses in other settings, including schools, adult learning facilities, and youth work (both online and in person). The success of the course is based around the creation of a classroom dynamic that is accessible, inclusive, and relatable to students from all backgrounds.

Fundamentally – science is for everyone.

…

Yes, science is for everyone.

Targeting crop-munching agricultural pests with nanotechnology

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A September 23, 2025 Canadian Light Source (CLS) news release by Federica Giannelli describes a new approach to using pesticides,

A bane of farmers’ existence, it’s estimated that plant-eating pests are responsible for the loss of up to 40 per cent of pre-harvest yields globally. But a new generation of crop treatments that target only “bad” bugs could mean big gains for the Canadian agriculture sector, improving pest management tools in an industry that in 2024 generated over $142 billion. 

Dr. Justin Pahara and his team at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Lethbridge Research and Development Centre are designing new screening methods to learn whether current crop treatments are effective. Their end goal, however, is to develop a method for using nanotechnology to deliver specific chemicals into pests based on their unique DNA – without harming helpful insects.

For example, through methods developed and tested at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan, the researchers found that lygus bugs contain regions of enriched minerals pointing to certain proteins that could one day be targeted with tailored agents to prevent them from eating crops. The lygus bug is a common agriculture pest that feeds on many crops, including canola. Pahara and his team’s innovative methods are published in the Canadian Journal of Chemistry.

“We all need food, and if farmers cannot grow their products efficiently and make a living out of it, it’s a problem,” says Pahara. “We need new tools for pest management. Insects are becoming more tolerant to chemicals in the same way antibiotic resistance works in humans.”

Developing targeted pest treatments would also make “carpet bombing” insects with harmful pesticides a thing of the past.

“The ‘spray-and-pray’ approach ends up also killing beneficial bugs such as pollinators, and predatory insects like spiders, wasps, and beetles that help maintain a healthy ecosystem,” says Pahara.

The first step was to study how pesticides get into pests in the first place, how the nanomaterials get into their bodies and where the substances accumulate, information that will help design better solutions.

Pahara and his team used the BioXAS beamline at the CLS to create X-ray images of cutworms and lygus bugs, showing what chemicals were present in the insects and where.

Then, the group developed special software to explore the bug images in 3D models using virtual reality, so they can take an even “closer look” at the inside of the insects’ bodies.

“Designing new approaches is a very challenging problem and people have been working on it for decades, but with little success,” says Pahara. “Ultimately it’s our job at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to pass on what we learn to Canadian industry to solve key technical problems so industry can take over with less risks.”

Now that Pahara and colleagues know their screening test works, they are expanding their research to weeds and fungi pests and will be able to start testing the delivery of nanomaterials developed by both AAFC and the NANO division of the National Research Council of Canada into insects’ bodies.

This brief CLS video offers a description of how the synchrotron was employed for this project,

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

3D X-ray fluorescence imaging of insect pests and analysis in a virtual reality environment by Armen Tchobanian, Damin Kim, and Justin Pahara. Canadian Journal of Chemistry Volume 103, Number 10, October 2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjc-2024-0246 First published online: 22 August 2025

This paper is open access.

Nanocellulose from pineapple waste for soil-saving desert agriculture

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The last time I had a pineapple and nanocellulose story it was from Brazil (see my March 28, 2011 posting). This September 23, 2025 news item in Nanowerk describes some more recent research, Note: Links have been removed,

Food waste has long been a global challenge, but a new study shows it may also be part of the solution to desertification. Published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts (“Evaluating Nanocellulose from Food Waste as A Functional Amendment for Sandy Soils: Linking Fiber Structure to Water Dynamics, Soil Mechanics, and Plant-Microbes Interactions”), the research demonstrates how pineapple peels, typically discarded in large quantities by the juice and hospitality industries, can be transformed into nanocellulose fibers that dramatically improve the properties of sandy soils.

…

Caption: Study shows food waste-derived nanocellulose boosts sandy soil water retention, nutrient storage, and plant survival in arid regions Credit: Department of Chemical Engineering, Khalifa University of Science & Technology, Abu Dhabi 127788, United Arab Emirates

A September 22, 2025 Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts (?) press release on EurekAlert, which originated the news item, provides more detail,

Led by an international team of scientists, the study focused on converting pineapple peels into fibers through mechanochemical treatments including shredding, alkali processing, bleaching, and ball milling. The resulting fibers, ranging from macro to nanoscale, were then tested in three types of desert sands commonly found in the United Arab Emirates: lithic, quartz-rich, and calcareous sands.

The results were striking. Soils amended with nanocellulose fibers exhibited up to 32.7% greater water-holding capacity and a 58% reduction in permeability compared to untreated sand. Evaporation rates slowed by over half, while soil cohesion and compressive strength improved four-fold in some cases. Importantly, nutrient retention also increased, with phosphorus retention nearly doubling in fiber-treated sands.

Plant growth experiments using cherry tomato seedlings further validated the amendments’ benefits. At moderate concentrations (0.25–1% fiber by weight), plants showed higher survival rates, more leaves, and healthier development compared to controls. However, excessive fiber content (3%) reduced survival, underscoring the need for optimized application levels.

Beyond agricultural performance, the study also assessed the biodegradation of fiber-reinforced soils. While compost-rich environments promoted microbial activity, nanocellulose fibers in sandy soils remained structurally stable, indicating their durability under arid conditions. This resilience could ensure long-term benefits for desert agriculture.

The findings align with broader circular bioeconomy goals, suggesting that food waste can be repurposed into high-value agricultural inputs rather than ending up in landfills. With the Middle East and North Africa importing more food than they produce, the approach offers a sustainable way to recycle organic residues into resources for local farming.

By linking fiber structure to soil mechanics, water dynamics, and plant-microbe interactions, the research provides a roadmap for restoring desert soils and improving food security in arid climates. As the authors note, future work should refine soil-water retention models and explore scaling the process to integrate other agricultural by-products, paving the way for broader adoption in sustainable land management.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Evaluating nanocellulose from food waste as a functional amendment for sandy soils: Linking fiber structure to water dynamics, soil mechanics, and plant-microbes interactions by M-Haidar Ali Dali, Mohamed Hamid Salim, Malak AbuZaid, Maryam Omar Subhi Qassem , Faisal Al Marzooqi, Andrea Ceriani, Alessandro Decarlis, Ludovic Francis Dumée, Blaise Leopold Tardy. Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts Volume 10, Issue 4, November 2025, Pages 513-529 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobab.2025.09.003 Available online 20 September 2025, Version of Record 21 November 2025

This paper is open access.

Dans la Forêt/Into the forest/En el bosque: a citizen science project in three languages (French, English, Spanish)

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I received this request back in March 2026; thankfully, there’s still enough time for folks to participate in Nicolas Mouquet’s (professor at the University of Montpellier; Université de Montpellier, France) latest aesthetic citizen science project,

Dear friends and colleagues,

You are receiving this email because you have previously completed a Biodiful survey or are a collaborator of Nicolas Mouquet.

As part of a scientific study on the visual perception of forests, we would greatly appreciate your help. This work is being carried out by Lùla Marcet within the CNRS [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique] laboratories CEFE [Centre d’Écologie Fonctionelle et Evolutive] (Montpellier) and SETE [Station d’Écologie Théorique et Expérimetale] (Moulis), under the supervision of Xavier Morin, Nicolas Mouquet, Gladys Barragan-Jason, and Maxime Chauchoix.

The aim of this study is to better understand how forests are perceived by as broad an audience as possible. As part of the BIODIFUL project, we are launching an online campaign.

We invite you to complete a short online questionnaire (about 10 minutes):

French: https://www.biodiful.org/#/foret
English: https://www.biodiful.org/#/forest
Spanish: https://www.biodiful.org/#/bosque

It would also be wonderful if you could forward this message to your colleagues, friends, and family, as we are trying to reach the widest audience possible. …

Here’s more from the various project pages (English, French, Spanish),

Into the forest

Hello and thank you for taking part in this questionnaire!
This survey aims to better understand how people perceive forest landscapes. To do so, you will be presented to photographs. For each pair, simply click on the photo that best matches the given instruction. The questionnaire is and will take about 10 minutes to complete. At the end, you will then be asked to answer a few additional questions.
– If you are using a mobile phone, please switch to landscape mode for optimal viewing of the photographs.- The quality of the photos may vary, please try not to take this into account when answering.
– The survey is open from February 25 to June 30, 2026 …

By clicking “Answer the survey,” you consent to the use of the collected data for the purposes of our scientific project; this survey is anonymous, and you may withdraw at any time.

Answer the survey

2842 people have already participated!

Dans la Forêt

Bonjour et merci de participer à ce questionnaire !

Cette enquête anonyme a pour but de mieuxcomprendre comment nous percevons les paysages forestiers. Pour cela, des paires de photos de forêts vont vous être présentées. Pour chaque paire, il vous suffit de cliquer sur la photo selon la consigne annoncée. Vous devrez ensuite répondre à quelques questions complémentaires. Cette enquête ne vous prendra qu’une dizaine de minutes. 
– Si vous utilisez votre téléphone portable, veuillez le mettre en mode paysage pour une meilleure visualisation des photos
– La qualité des photos peut varier, essayer de ne pas en tenir compte dans vos réponses.
– Cette enquête est ouverte du 25 février au 30 juin 2026 … 

En cliquant sur « Répondre à la campagne », vous consentez à ce que les données collectées soient utilisées dans le cadre de notre projet scientifique; cette enquête est anonyme, et vous avez le droit de vous retirer à tout moment.

Répondre à la campagne

9043 personnes ont déjà participé !

En el bosque

¡Hola y gracias por participar en este cuestionario!Esta encuestatiene como objetivo comprender mejor cómo percibimos los paisajes forestales. Para ello, se le presentarán varios pares de fotografías de bosques. Por cada par, solo tiene que hacer clic en la foto según las instrucciones indicadas. La encuesta le tomará aproximadamente diez minutos. A continuación, deberá responder a algunas preguntas adicionales.
– Si utiliza su teléfono móvil, por favor póngalo en modo horizontal para una mejor visualización de las fotos.
– La calidad de las fotos puede variar, trate deno tenerlo en cuenta al responder.- Esta encuesta está abierta del 25 de febrero al 30 de junio de 2026 …

Al hacer clic en «Responde la encuesta», usted consiente que los datos recopilados se utilicen en el marco de nuestro proyecto científico; esta encuesta es anónima y puede retirarse en cualquier momento.

Responde la encuesta

312 personas ya han participado!

For the curious, here are two postings about Mouquet’s citizen science projects,

I have participated in a few of Nicolas Mouquet’s previous aesthetic ecology projects and he seems to be very careful with any personal data you share. I get the occasional email informing me of a new project or notice that he’s published a paper based on my (and thousands of others’) aesthetic observations.