TED Talks Daily How AI is unearthing hidden scientific knowledge | Sara Beery
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Nov 25, 2025 
Sara Beery, an AI researcher and ecologist at MIT, dives into the urgent need for ecological knowledge hidden in vast datasets. She reveals that 80% of Earth's species remain unknown, exacerbated by climate change and habitat loss. Beery discusses how AI can analyze millions of images quickly, unlocking valuable information for conservation. Her innovative tool, Inquire, allows researchers to query ecological data efficiently, with remarkable speed and accuracy. Beery emphasizes the public's role in contributing data to platforms like iNaturalist, helping to fill crucial biodiversity gaps.
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Most Life On Earth Is Unseen
- Scientists have observed only 2 million of an estimated 10 million species, leaving 80% of life unknown.
- Sara Beery argues this massive unknown limits our ability to protect ecosystems and requires new approaches to knowledge discovery.
New Species Found Too Late
- The Tapenuli orangutan was discovered in 2017 and was already critically endangered at discovery.
- Sara Beery uses this story to show species can go undescribed until it's nearly too late.
Ecological Data Is An Untapped Goldmine
- Huge ecological databases like iNaturalist contain millions of labeled images with hidden extra information in the pixels.
- Sara Beery calls these combined datasets an "ecological goldmine" that we haven't effectively mined yet.