Researchers advance AI Models for Lunar science

Researchers advance AI Models for Lunar science
by Simon Mansfield
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 01, 2024

Chinese scientists have introduced the world's first professional multimodal large language model (LLM) tailored specifically for lunar science, promising a significant boost in the speed and efficiency of processing vast quantities of lunar data.

This cutting-edge tool was launched at the China International Big Data Industry Expo in Guiyang, located in Southwest China's Guizhou province. The initiative is a collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Geochemistry and Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group.

The Institute of Geochemistry has developed a comprehensive "digital moon" platform, which now houses the most extensive collection of lunar exploration data worldwide.

This LLM serves as an intelligent system, or "smart brain," for the digital moon. Ku Wei, vice president of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, explained that the LLM can identify lunar craters, classifying them by size, depth, and shape. This functionality provides researchers with crucial data to further study the geological evolution of the moon.

Liu Jianzhong, a researcher at the Institute of Geochemistry, noted that there are over 1 million lunar craters with diameters exceeding 1 kilometer, in addition to countless smaller ones. "Identifying all lunar craters would be impossible if we were to rely on manpower alone," Liu commented.

With the new AI model, researchers only need to input an image of a lunar crater. The LLM then determines its shape, size, and age. "The accuracy rate is more than 80 percent, exceeding our expectations," Liu added.

According to scientists, the advancement of planetary science hinges on two main factors: the development of deep space exploration technology and the capacity for data processing and application.

Big data-driven scientific research is transforming the pace of scientific and technological advancements, with the digital moon's intelligence set to accelerate China's lunar and planetary science research and innovation.

Liu further illustrated the potential of the LLM by comparing it to a highly intelligent child. "The LLM is like a child with a very high IQ. We train and teach the child professional things. I personally believe that this child's intelligence may have reached the university sophomore level. We will let it continue to grow and help us solve more scientific problems," Liu said.