AI mapped what kind of forest grows on every patch of land on Earth
Google DeepMind used AI to build a global map that sorts every 10-meter patch of land on Earth, about 33 feet across, into distinct forest types. It goes beyond earlier maps that only showed whether trees were present.
Why this is new because of AI
Older satellite maps could tell you where trees were, but not whether a spot was old natural forest, a planted tree farm, or something else. Doing that by hand for the entire planet at this level of detail would take people an impossibly long time. AI made it practical, giving conservationists a much clearer picture of which forests are worth protecting.