Google Earth's new AI image generation function didn't survive a day after users deepfaked disasters

What was even the point of this; what was the intended use case?

I’m serious, I have no idea who this is for. Other than to show people that their AI can badly superimpose pictures of Godzilla over maps.

I work in this space: you can use it to mock up commercial developments, changes in land use, etc., to see what it would look like. Somewhat useful when presenting rather dry architectural diagrams into realistic looking scenes.

Now, why it was broadly opened to the public is unclear to me other than being a flex?

you can use it to mock up commercial developments

Fair, but aren’t there better solutions for this already?

Depends on how you define “better.” You can generate many variants of a scene this way, at night say, or in snowy conditions. You can mock up emergency response situations. It’s part of the story you’re telling but not a straight up replacement.