Google just dropped an AI feature nobody really asked for, and honestly, that makes it more interesting. The company has announced that its Nano Banana image generation tool is now built into Google Earth, giving users the ability to generate AI-created pictures layered over real-world locations. The pitch? “Visualize the past.” The reality? A bit more complicated.
The headline use case is education. Google says teachers can prompt Nano Banana to show what Pompeii looked like in 78 AD, turning crumbled ruins into a supposedly “hyper-realistic” Roman street scene. That sounds cool in theory. But the example image Google shared is, to put it charitably, not exactly stunning. It has that familiar AI-generated softness that makes everything look slightly dreamy and slightly wrong. And there’s a bigger issue here: nobody had satellite cameras in ancient Rome. Every pixel in that reconstruction is a guess. A stylized, algorithm-generated guess. Teachers should probably be upfront about that with students.
Google is also pitching some business-focused uses. The tool can reimagine an empty plot of land as a fully built-out retail district, which Google frames as a way to help “clients see what’s possible.” Sure, but any commercial developer worth their fee already has rendering software for this. Using a Google Earth AI tool in a pitch meeting instead of an actual architectural render feels like a shortcut that could seriously undermine credibility. Maybe that’s a harsh take. But money is involved, so corners shouldn’t be cut.
There’s also a use case for visualizing construction projects before work begins. Google showed a lakefront cabin built from “sustainably sourced local materials.” The output looks like every other AI-generated house you’ve seen on social media. Fine for casual inspiration, not so fine if you’re making real decisions based on it.
The one feature that actually feels useful is the custom infographic generator. Point it at the Statue of Liberty and it pulls together historical details, dimensions, and materials into a visual summary. That’s genuinely handy. Though Google hasn’t confirmed whether it works across all Earth locations or just major landmarks. And since this is AI, fact-checking anything it produces is non-negotiable.
Nano Banana in Google Earth is live right now. It’s worth playing with, even if you keep your expectations grounded.