Abstract
Representing local ecosystems may bridge the gap between people and their surrounding natural environment, increasing the understanding by non-experts of ecological services. This preliminary study leverages the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to simplify the visualization and communication of these phenomena to non-experts. Here we generated a tentative Tagus River microbiota and then used ChatGPT to generate ecological services and functions derived from the microbiota produced by nanopore sequencing on samples collected in Praínha de Braço de Prata. The most abundant genera found were Candidatus Pelagibacter, Egibacter, and Ralstonia. For the combined microbiota the most relevant ecological services were organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and biofilm formation. We concluded that the ChatGPT may provide a useful tool to represent the Tagus River microbiota, elucidate the ecological services and provide a guidance for the design of better objects and services to respect and value the water bodies such as the Tagus River estuary. Crossing the disciplines of design and biology, this experiment contributes towards an interface between humans and other-than-humans, by representing ecosystems like the estuary of Tejo.
