Our newest AI Quest: Mapping the human brain

Our third lesson in our AI Quests series, “Polar Peaks,” teaches students key AI literacy skills while delving into neuroscience.

Google Research and the Stanford Accelerator for Learning just launched "Polar Peaks," an interactive quest that teaches students ages 11 to 14 how to map the human brain using artificial intelligence. This program helps students practice data cleaning and model testing while emphasizing the need for human oversight in technology. You can access new teacher training modules through the Google AI Educator Series to help bring these lessons into your classroom.

Google launched a new game called "Polar Peaks" that lets you act like a scientist to map the human brain using AI. You’ll learn how to solve real-world problems while discovering how to use AI responsibly. It’s a fun way to see how researchers use technology to make big scientific breakthroughs. Teachers even get special training to help you explore these challenges in class.

Today, we’re launching “Polar Peaks”, our third quest in the AI Quests series, created by Google Research and the Stanford Accelerator for Learning to teach students how AI works and how to use it responsibly. AI Quests invites students ages 11 to 14 to step into the shoes of Google researchers to tackle some of humanity’s biggest challenges.

More than 400,000 quests have been completed to date, localized to 10 languages. Alongside the new quest, we’re also releasing training modules for teachers.

In the first two quests, students tackle flood forecasting and eye disease detection, inspired by Google Research’s Flood Forecasting initiative and AI model for diabetic retinopathy screening. Our newest quest, “Polar Peaks,” has students travel to the frontiers of neuroscience and see how AI can speed up scientific research.

With the guidance of in-game mentors, students scan and map the neurons in the brain to better understand the game character’s memory loss. They complete tasks like data cleaning and model testing, learning firsthand that AI requires careful human oversight and critical thinking.

The quest is inspired by over a decade of our research in connectomics: the science of mapping neural networks in the brain. Upon completion of the quest, students hear from two researchers behind our real-world breakthroughs, including the recent mapping of the complete fruit fly brain, the largest brain map by number of neurons to date.

Teachers play a critical role in bringing the quests to life and fitting them into their existing classroom curriculum. We’re rolling out new dedicated teacher training modules to help educators reinforce key AI literacy concepts and use AI Quests for learning and discussion. These are launching within the Google AI Educator Series. The modules for Quest #1 and #2 are accessible here. The training module for Quest #3 will follow next month.

Earlier this year, AI Quests won a 2026 Webby Award for AI Education, Learning & Training, and Best Global K–12 Learning Solution at the ETIH Innovation Awards. We’ll continue working with educators and partners to bring more quests to more classrooms this school year.

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