Nature identification Applications: navigating between the reduction of the living and their ecological potential. A critical and diplomatic analysis for a life-centered Digital Design
Abstract
Nature identification or connexion applications, such as iNaturalist or PlantNet, present themselves as tools of mediation between humans and non-humans. Based on participatory logics and relying on artificial intelligence to identify species, these digital devices nonetheless reproduce an anthropocentric, naturalistic, and instrumental gaze on nature. This article offers a critical analysis by combining techno-semiotic and eco-semiotic approaches. It interrogates the ambivalence of these tools, situated between ecological awareness and the reproduction of technological solutionism. Finally, it explores pathways toward a life-centered digital design, grounded in sensitive mediation, situated storytelling, and a research posture committed to an ecology of knowledge.
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BibTeX
@article{garmon2026nature,
title = {{Nature identification Applications: navigating between the reduction of the living and their ecological potential. A critical and diplomatic analysis for a life-centered Digital Design}},
author = {Inès Garmon},
journal = {Interfaces numériques},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.25965/interfaces-numeriques.5591},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05768518v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Nature identification Applications: navigating between the reduction of the living and their ecological potential. A critical and diplomatic analysis for a life-centered Digital Design
AU - Inès Garmon
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/29
JO - Interfaces numériques
DO - 10.25965/interfaces-numeriques.5591
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05768518v1
AB - Nature identification or connexion applications, such as iNaturalist or PlantNet, present themselves as tools of mediation between humans and non-humans. Based on participatory logics and relying on artificial intelligence to identify species, these digital devices nonetheless reproduce an anthropocentric, naturalistic, and instrumental gaze on nature. This article offers a critical analysis by combining techno-semiotic and eco-semiotic approaches. It interrogates the ambivalence of these tools, situated between ecological awareness and the reproduction of technological solutionism. Finally, it explores pathways toward a life-centered digital design, grounded in sensitive mediation, situated storytelling, and a research posture committed to an ecology of knowledge.
SN - 2258-7942
SN - 2259-1001
ER -