In connection with the final conference of Mistra Sustainable Consumption, a chatbot on sustainable consumption is being launched. It is based on hundreds of scientific articles and reports written by researchers within the programme.
With the bot Greenchat, you can discuss topics such as consumer goods, housing size, meat, air travel, night trains, product destruction, business models, sufficiency, repair, taxes, acceptance of policy instruments, or questions of power and values. The chatbot is freely available to everyone, but it is particularly relevant for people working in companies, public authorities, and the media on issues related to sustainable consumption. Another group that may benefit from it is private individuals who want to increase their knowledge of various sustainability issues discussed in public debate.
The programme’s combined research results
Jörgen Larsson of Chalmers University of Technology is one of the researchers behind the chatbot. He explains that its purpose is to make research more accessible to the general public.
– There is a lot of science-based knowledge, but it is difficult to find relevant information for the specific question one has. In addition, there are many actors actively trying to mislead. The chatbot can be seen as a way to more easily access the combined research results of the eight-year programme, a way to avoid having to leaf through hundreds of reports and articles, he says.
More knowledge-based discussion
Erik Sterner is a researcher at the University of Gothenburg and has also been involved in developing the tool.
– We have tested this technology with lower secondary school students, and they felt that the chatbot “can explain things in a way you understand,” he says. We also saw that interest in research was higher after the students had tested the chatbot than before.
The researchers hope that the tool will contribute to more knowledge-based discussions in the media and around kitchen tables, and ultimately lead to societal changes that promote more sustainable consumption patterns.
Why use this chatbot instead of one of the established ones like ChatGPT?
– Here, you can be more confident that the answers are based on research and are relevant in a Swedish context. You can also easily see all the sources behind the answers you receive, allowing you to explore and deepen your understanding further, says Jörgen Larsson.
– This chatbot uses the latest models from Google, which are now at least as good as ChatGPT, so there is no reason to complain about its reasoning ability or performance from that perspective either, adds Erik Sterner.
THE CHATBOT
Chat about sustainable consumption here: https://greenchat.se/eng/
CONTACT
Jörgen Larsson, Researcher, Chalmers University of Technology
jorgen.larsson@chalmers.se
+46 708 833 370