AI Helps Create a Digital Museum With 70 Million Natural History Specimens

Millions of animals, plants, fossils and rocks from collections across the United Kingdom are being brought together in a huge digital museum project using artificial intelligence and advanced scanning technology.

The project aims to make around 70 million scientific specimens available online, allowing people around the world to explore collections that have been gathered over hundreds of years.

A Museum That Can Fit on a Phone

Many of the specimens are currently stored in museums, universities and research collections across the UK. Some are extremely old, including plants collected more than 250 years ago.

Researchers are using robots, high-resolution scanners and artificial intelligence to photograph, identify and catalogue the specimens. The technology is expected to dramatically reduce the amount of time needed to digitise the collections.

Instead of taking hundreds of years to catalogue everything manually, researchers hope the process can be completed within about a decade.

Millions of Hidden Records

The collections contain far more than traditional museum displays. They include insects, birds, plants, fossils, rocks and other examples of the natural world.

Some specimens were collected centuries ago, giving scientists valuable evidence about how Britain’s environment has changed over time.

By comparing old specimens with modern observations, researchers can investigate changes in species distribution, biodiversity and the environment.

AI Could Help Scientists Understand the Future

The project is not simply about putting museum objects online. Scientists believe the enormous database could become an important research tool.

Historical specimens can provide information about what ecosystems looked like before major changes such as industrialisation, urban development and shifts in climate.

Researchers can then combine those historical records with modern data to improve models that predict how species and ecosystems could change in the future.

The Public Will Be Able to Explore It

The digital museum is also intended for the public, not only scientists.

Once the collections become widely accessible, people will be able to explore specimens from museums and institutions across the UK using computers and mobile devices.

For children and students, the project could provide an opportunity to examine fossils, plants and animals that they might never be able to see in person.

A New Way to Preserve the Past

Scientists say digitising these collections could help preserve valuable information while making it easier for researchers around the world to study.

Some specimens represent species or environments that have changed significantly since they were collected. Their records therefore provide a snapshot of the natural world at a particular moment in history.

By combining those historical snapshots into one enormous digital collection, researchers hope to build a clearer picture of how the planet’s natural world has changed — and what may happen next.

Sources

• BBC News — “How AI is creating a UK super-museum and revealing our planet’s history” — September 30, 2026.
• Yahoo News — “How AI is creating a UK super-museum and revealing our planet’s history” — September 30, 2026.