Kew Says AI Could Help Save 40% of Assessed Plants at Risk of Extinction

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 16

40% of the 70,000 plant species assessed are at risk of extinction, and Kew says AI and digitisation could speed identification, analysis and protection before more species disappear.
7.4 million Kew specimens are now digitised and online, part of 145 million global digital records—still under 16% of herbarium holdings—giving researchers wider access to archives and biodiversity hotspots such as Madagascar.
8 million digitised specimens fed into an AI flowering study showed bloom times shifting by an average 2.5 days a decade over the last century, a climate-driven change that can disrupt pollinators and ecosystems.
180-year-old fungus specimens can now yield high-quality genomes, which Kew says could uncover new medicines and improve disease-outbreak prediction, even as 90% of an estimated 2 million fungal species remain unknown.
400 scientists across 40 countries warned that AI's benefits could be undermined by data gaps, bias and the heavy energy use of datacentres, urging more public funding and partnerships with technology companies.