AI makes rewilding seem harmless – and ignores the chaotic reality

Humans have always imagined the natural world. From cave paintings from the Ice Age to the present, we depict the animals and landscapes we value – and ignore those we don’t.

Now artificial intelligence is doing the imagining for us. And when asked to imagine Britain “rewilded,” landscapes emerge that are strikingly similar – and harmless.

Two geographers from the University of Aberdeen recently did just that. In their research, they present examples of how widely used AI chatbots (Gemini, ChatGPT and others) generated images of overgrown landscapes in the UK. The bots were sent commands such as “Can you see what rewilding looks like in Scotland?” prompted. or “Create a picture of what rewilding looks like in England,” tailored to each bot’s style.

The authors acknowledge that the commands are very general, but give the bots free rein. The images produced were then compared based on composition (e.g. viewing angle, scale, etc.).