TaxonGPT: Taxonomic Classification Using Generative Artificial Intelligence

To address the challenges of consistency and quality in taxonomic classifications, we have developed a Python program called TaxonGPT, that utilizes the natural language processing capabilities of generative artificial intelligence (gAI, specifically, ChatGPT-4o) to generate taxonomic descriptions and taxonomic keys. To counter the propensity for large language model gAIs to "hallucinate", we use knowledge graph semantic representation and an error-checking module to ensure that accurate taxonomic descriptions and keys are obtained. In this paper, we describe how TaxonGPT embeds ChatGPT-4os responses as outputs. We also report on benchmark tests for accuracy, efficiency and reproducibility. These tests demonstrate that TaxonGPT excels in generating taxonomic keys and descriptions.