The AI models Zanskar uses are fed information on where blind systems already exist. This data is plentiful as, over the last century and more, humans have accidentally stumbled on many around the world while drilling for other resources such as oil and gas.
The models then scour huge amounts of data — everything from rock composition to magnetic fields — to find patterns that point to the existence of geothermal reserves. AI models have “gotten really good over the last 10 years at being able to pull those types of signals out of noise,” Hoiland said.
I think this is one of the underreported aspects of LLM. its ability to find signal in the noise. Of course you still have to verify it. But it appears this was a viable drill site with no surface indications.
Quote Citation: Laura Paddison, “A startup discovered a hidden source of abundant, clean energy — and did it in an unusual way | CNN”, DEC 12, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/12/climate/blind-geothermal-clean-energy-discovery