A new artificial intelligence (AI) tool developed by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is making it easier for scientists to explore complex geoscience data—from tracking sea levels on Earth to analyzing atmospheric conditions on Mars. Their work was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Machine Learning and Computation .
"We built a prototype assistant that lets scientists ask plain-language questions and get back working code, clear explanations, and even publication-ready figures—in minutes," said Matthew Widlansky, lead author of the study and associate director of the UH Sea Level Center , which is part of the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). "Our goal was to lower the barrier between geophysical data and the people trying to understand it."
The system, Intelligent Data Exploring Assistant (IDEA), connects artificial intelligence from OpenAI—similar to what powers ChatGPT—to data archives of the UH Sea Level Center . Widlansky and Nemanja Komar, co-author on the study and the software engineer behind the project, then equipped IDEA with specialized instructions, essentially a digital user manual for interpreting sea level data. When a user asks a question, the AI generates computer code, which is then safely executed on a secure UH computer.
Investigating coastal changes, new adaptations
To showcase IDEA's potential, the researchers developed a prototype application called the Station Explorer Assistant (SEA). SEA serves as a working example of how the IDEA system can be used to analyze global sea level data. It enables both scientists and students to investigate coastal changes simply by asking questions.
"With the Station Explorer Assistant, users don't need to write a single line of code to analyze tide gauge data, track sea level rise, or assess flooding occurrence," said Widlansky. "An exciting part of this work is how easily the IDEA framework can be adapted to explore new datasets," added Komar. "We even shifted from sea level records to dust storms on Mars–just by changing the instructions and data source."
Tools to assist, not replace
Still, the researchers caution that AI-generated analyses aren't foolproof. "SEA and other IDEA-based applications can make mistakes, like miscalculating a trend," Widlansky noted. "That's why human oversight remains essential—we're building tools to assist scientists, not replace them."
Flexibility is central to IDEA's design. As an open-source, general-purpose framework, it can be customized for different research problems, from ocean forecasting to land use change, or even planetary science. Although still a prototype, the SOEST researchers made SEA available online for scientists or university students to try out and test. Developers are encouraged to explore the IDEA framework on GitHub and experiment with adapting it to their own data or using it with other large language model services. The team welcomes feedback and collaboration to help improve IDEA and expand its scientific applications.
