Google has arrived with a way to better map Earth’s disasters, predict them and track which communities and ecosystems will be affected by their destruction. If you want to find out what’s straining the environment in your neck of the woods, just ask.
Google Earth AI, a merger of Google’s Earth and Gemini AI systems, was introduced in July. Part of that effort is an AI model called AlphaEarth Foundations, which turns terabytes of satellite data into useful data layers to track the history of what’s happening on the planet’s surface.
The combined system allows users to analyze historical landscape data that can reveal large changes in climate over the years. For example, users can look at rising water levels in flood zones, chart changes in surface temperatures across regions of the planet, or see the effects of clean air policies by studying changes in air pollution.
Now, Google has revealed new capabilities coming to its Earth AI platform. Users can now interact with the AI model by asking it questions like you would a chatbot. One example Google gave was asking Earth’s AI to “find algal blooms” to help monitor water supplies. The system will search for satellite images and their collected data to give a list of results.
