AWS Turns Nat Geo’s 138-year History into Inspiring Stories

Imagine asking a question like “show me coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef and the scientists who documented it” and instantly surfacing the exact clips, photos, maps and notes from across 138 years of National Geographic fieldwork. 

That is the promise behind the National Geographic Society’s (NGS) new “living library” built with AWS and powered by Amazon’s Gen AI.

The partnership aims to centralise nearly 15 petabytes of history into one cloud-based media platform. 

“For over 138 years, the NGS has documented the wonders of our world, from the ocean floor to the highest peaks, capturing history, inspiring explorers of every age, and building a legacy that is truly irreplaceable,” says Rick Buettner, Managing Director of Global Nonprofits at AWS. 

“AWS is proud to partner with the Society to ensure every asset becomes an enduring resource as we safeguard the past while powering the next generation of discovery.”

The unified archive spans deep sea footage, archaeological records, historic maps and iconic photography, with billions of assets preserved and made searchable in real time. 

It’s built for the way NGS works today with its teams generating about two petabytes of new video each year (roughly 100 days of 4K footage) across its programmes, including the Impact Story Lab, National Geographic Pristine Seas and National Geographic Live. 

Search by idea, edit in minutes 

Where Amazon AI changes the game is in discovery and editing. Using Amazon Bedrock alongside other AWS services, the platform helps transcribe footage, generate and refine metadata, and identify key figures, species and places across the archive. 

In practical terms, that means editors can search by idea rather than filename using natural-language query to surface relevant footage, transcripts, photos and maps within seconds. 

Editors can also use the time-coded transcripts to skip to an exact quote or soundbite without scrubbing hours of video. Plus, AI-assisted tagging and similarity search reveal visually related shots across decades of material.

Gen AI by AWS provides richer metadata to help verify who is in a scene, where it was captured and what rights apply, making it easier to safely repurpose assets. 

And with everything in a central platform on AWS, story teams can review, pull selects and manage assets together from anywhere, shortening the path from field to publication.

Speed matters because NGS' mission extends beyond storytelling. It is about inspiring curiosity, advancing education and protecting the planet. AI‑enabled search and editing support the mission in three intertwined ways. 

First, AI helps editors locate the ideal archival sequence in minutes, films and digital shorts move from idea to impact far more quickly. 

Long-buried gems – such as an early expedition reel, a hand-drawn map or a rare species sighting – are resurfaced and woven into fresh narratives that rekindle wonder for global audiences. 

Second, production teams can rapidly assemble accurate, context-rich clips tied to specific topics, places or historical moments to strengthen education. 

With AI-assisted transcripts and metadata, it becomes easier to craft clear explainers and classroom-ready edits drawn from authoritative primary sources. 

Third, AI advances protection through the conservation stories editors are putting together so viewers can see why protections matter and how science guides action.

“This initiative is the first step in a multi-year journey where the society will leverage AWS infrastructure and services to centralise the production and preservation of its media assets,” says Jason Southern, Chief Technology and Information Officer at the NGS. 

“Production teams will be able to quickly discover, access and re-use existing media to create impactful stories about the work our explorers undertake to study our world.”

Jason adds on LinkedIn: “This data primarily consists of high-resolution video assets that have been captured during recent explorer field work.

“Once the assets are safely on the cloud, NGS will leverage AI services to transcribe footage, identify key figures and describe scenes, enriching the asset metadata. 

“This will enable NGS production teams to surface specific moments within the archived footage – converting years of material into a rich resource for new narratives that will inspire and educate future generations for years to come.”

Preserving a 138-year legacy with humans in the loop

The approach also safeguards the society’s legacy for the next century. By centralising assets on AWS Cloud, the society preserves irreplaceable materials while making them useful. 

Instead of being locked in separate systems, records of our planet’s history – from 19th‑century photographs to the latest deep‑ocean dives – become part of an active, searchable memory that grows every year.

Crucially, the tools are designed to assist, not replace, human judgment. Gen AI helps surface possibilities; editors, producers and subject-matter experts shape the story. 

That human‑in‑the‑loop model is well‑suited to NGS' standards for accuracy, ethics and context.

As the archive continues to scale and as AI models improve, expect faster turnaround from expedition to edit suite, deeper links between related projects and more inventive reuse of classic material. 

For an organisation that has documented the wonders of our world for 138 years, turning its archive into a living, searchable library is a way to ensure every shot, map and field note can be found, understood and developed into stories that inspire, educate and protect our planet.