Here’s my vision doc for where I see AI and remote sensing going - in the form of a sci-fi novella.
It also has a story beats summary if the narrative doesn’t work for you.
I tried to make the science and tech plausible, but there are probably many remaining errors - please let me know if you see any.
To give you an idea, here’s the opening:
The morning sunlight streamed through tall windows as Thomas Habimana, a rural teacher in Rwanda, guided his high school students through their nature observation class.
“Let’s compare last year’s images with what we’re seeing today,” Thomas said, tapping his tablet to send the satellite views to the classroom display. He stifled a yawn—he’d been up late helping his mother with inventory for her market stall again. “Tell me what you notice.”
The classroom fell silent as the students studied the two forest images. “Teacher, the colors look faded now. Last year’s forest was much brighter,” said Mutesi, a thoughtful girl in the front row who’d once brought Thomas a detailed journal of plant observations she’d kept since she was seven.
Thomas studied the image, a knot forming in his stomach. “Good catch, Mutesi,” he said, forcing a smile. “It should be greener this time of year. Something’s… wrong.” He glanced at the window, where the distant forest loomed like a patient awaiting diagnosis.
