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AI transparency

Use of Artificial Intelligence on Naturkompass · In accordance with EU AI Act Art. 50 · Status: April 2026

1. Our principle

Naturkompass uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a supporting tool — never as a replacement for scientific data. All AI-generated content is clearly marked as such. Our scientific database (over 14,000 plant and 6,400 animal species) comes from verified sources under CC BY 4.0 or CC0 license.

2. Where we use AI

a) AI Garden Assistant (Chat)

An interactive chat assistant answers questions about plants, animals, and garden ecology. The assistant uses Anthropic Claude or Google Gemini to generate responses.

  • Responses are generated in real-time and not stored
  • Rate-Limited: max. 6 requests/minute, 30 requests/day (logged in)
  • Security filters: Jailbreak detection (30+ patterns), output scanning
  • Labelling: The chat is labelled as "AI Garden Assistant"

b) AI-generated species descriptions

For some species profiles, summary descriptions are created using AI. These are based on the scientific data in our database and summarise ecology, habitat requirements, and garden relevance.

  • The underlying facts come from scientific sources
  • The AI only formulates the summary text
  • Labelling: Marked as ai_summary in the source code

c) AI-generated illustrations

Where no photos are available, AI-generated placeholder images are used.

  • Labelling: "AI-generated illustration" badge directly on the image
  • These images are intended solely for visual orientation

d) Lazy Gardener Generator (Garden plan)

Registered users can have an AI-supported garden plan generated. Based on existing garden plants, Anthropic Claude creates a personalised planting plan.

  • Paid feature (credits via Stripe)
  • Labelling: Labelled as "AI-generated garden plan"
  • Result is a suggestion, no guarantee of success

e) Photo analysis for species identification

Registered users can have photos from the garden diary analysed to receive up to three possible plant or animal species. The analysis is performed via Google Gemini Vision. There is deliberately no further external vision fallback.

  • Results are suggestions with an uncertainty value, not a binding identification
  • In case of uncertainty, multiple matches are displayed or "unknown" is returned
  • Labelling: Button and result area are labelled as AI plant identification
  • Hits are matched against the own Naturkompass catalogue, if possible

f) Editorial article generation (Admin)

For the knowledge section, article drafts can be created with AI support. These are editorially reviewed before publication and revised if necessary.

  • Only triggerable by the operator (admin function)
  • Every article undergoes an editorial review

3. AI providers used

  • Anthropic (Claude) — Chat assistant, garden plan generation. Anthropic processes data in accordance with their privacy policy. Chat messages are not used for training AI models (Zero Data Retention for API usage).
  • Google (Gemini) — Chat fallback, photo analysis, article generation, quiz creation. Google processes data in accordance with their API terms of service. For API usage, inputs are not used for model training.

4. Limits and risks

AI systems can provide incorrect, incomplete, or misleading answers ("hallucinations"). We explicitly point out:

  • No guarantee: AI-generated content may contain errors. We assume no liability for accuracy.
  • No replacement: AI recommendations do not replace professional garden advice, plant protection advice, or ecological expert reports.
  • Labelling obligation: We label AI-generated content in accordance with Art. 50 of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689).

5. Data protection when using AI

Chat messages to the AI assistant are processed in real-time via streaming and are not permanently stored. Images for photo analysis are only processed for the respective request and are not additionally stored as an AI request. Photos stored in the garden diary are subject to the storage and deletion rules applicable there.

Data processing by AI providers is based on Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of a contract). Further details can be found in our privacy policy.

6. Questions & contact

If you have questions about the use of Artificial Intelligence on Naturkompass, please contact:

E-Mail: hallo@gartenexpedition.de