The students designed the project, called Predicting Image Geolocations (PIGEON), to find locations using Google Street View, NPR reported on December 19.

When presented with personal images that were unfamiliar, for the most part, the program guessed the correct location. The outlet continued:

Like so many applications of AI, this new power is likely to be a double-edged sword: It may help people identify the locations of old snapshots from relatives, or allow field biologists to conduct rapid surveys of entire regions for invasive plant species, to name but a few of many likely beneficial applications.