Daniel Huffmann has written an interesting blog post shedding light on how he uses (or has tried to use) generative AI1 for cartography projects. The post opens with Daniel stating his generally critical stance towards AI and its extractive nature. He goes on:
Despite all this, I find myself using genAI2 from time to time. Is this hypocritical? Quite possibly. But, it’s also not far off from human nature. It’s hard for many of us to resist the temptation to see what this interesting new tool can do.
The rest of the article highlights some genAI uses Daniel has applied in his work. Some of these I consider quite creative and hadn’t occurred to me before. I also appreciate that Daniel is upfront when a test hasn’t worked out well:
None of what I present above is definitive, or a proper study. Just a handful of anecdotes, including of some subpar results. But, I think all of these examples point towards ways that genAI might make its way into some cartographic pipelines. […] For the cartographers that are excited to use these tools, I wanted to suggest constructive, practical directions. Importantly, my suggested genAI uses (1) don’t significantly undercut the human creative aspect, (2) can easily be checked for errors, and (3) might actually save time and labor (if not now, probably soon).
Overall, a clear-eyed and interesting perspective and source of inspiration.