Antonio Antoine also has something to say about generative AI in cartography. As I did in my piece about generative AI, he takes as his starting point the question of gatekeeping; unlike me, he’s coming at it as a working mapmaker. He takes the question at face value: who and where are the gatekeepers in cartography—for example, access to data, education, software licences—and asks what (if anything) generative AI can do about it. In the end he comes down on the side of accountability: “If one is not trained in geography/cartography, where does accountability step in to correct bad maps? Are formal cartographers supposed to police the internet? Like gatekeepers? Why not nip it in the bud at the source? […] As far as I am concerned, genAI in cartography is a race to the bottom. There will be little to no accountability in these maps as there is very little ownership in them.”
Category: Industry
Gatekeepers, Luddites, Haters and AI-Generated Maps
I’m opposed to generative AI and all its works. According to some leading names in the cartographic community, that makes me a gatekeeper, a Luddite, and an irrational AI hater.
So, generative AI has come to cartography. The ICA’s Commission on Map Design has been posting examples of maps produced using generative AI tools, and there’s a website highlighting the ways you can use ChatGPT to generate maps using natural language prompts. The proponents of this stuff have been making some fairly inflammatory statements in its defence, such that I can only imagine they’ve been getting some grief about using it and are pushing back against it. Hence the stuff about gatekeepers, Luddites and haters. These are epithets I’ve seen thrown around before by pro-AI advocates in other fields where the use of generative AI has proven even more controversial. They’re not new. They’re also not worth taking seriously.
Continue reading “Gatekeepers, Luddites, Haters and AI-Generated Maps”The Leventhal Center Is Hiring a Curator
The Leventhal Map Center is looking to hire a curator or associate curator of maps and geography. “This position will play a leading role in advancing the Center’s broad public agenda around the study of maps, space and place, and historical geography, and will hold key responsibilities for the stewardship, growth, and interpretation of the Center’s collections.” Deadline 30 March 2026.
Meet the History of Cartography Project’s Managing Editor
A short interview with Jude Leimer, who joined the History of Cartography Project in 1981 (!) and has served as managing editor for every single volume. (That’s a lot of institutional memory.)
Warning Signs
Adam Simmons sees some warning signs for geographers and the geospatial industry after watching the archives of the American Geographical Society’s 2025 Symposium (see the YouTube playlist).
The event, held back in November at Columbia University under the banner Geography 2050: The Future of GeoAI, was meant to be a victory lap. It was billed as the moment the “science of where” finally merged with the “science of artificial intelligence” to save the planet.
But viewing the footage now, in the cold, gray light of early 2026, the recordings feel less like a conference proceeding and more like the flight data recorder of a crash we should have seen coming.
Among other things: a disconnect between industry and academia, the loss of geography departments, and above all, multiple disruptions, threats and harms from AI.
WCVB’s Chronicle Looks at Maps
Looks like Boston TV channel WCVB’s Chronicle newsmagazine turned its attention to maps last week: there were profiles of Map Center owner Andrew Middleton, cartographer Andy Woodruff and the Leventhal Map Center, plus pieces on brain mapping, forensic mapping and MassGIS. (The clips are also available on the Chronicle YouTube channel.)
The Business of Selling Map Prints
Daniel Huffman gives us a behind-the-scenes look at “the ‘selling mappy goods’ side of the business, in my tradition of being open about my finances. I can’t say whether my experience is typical, but you might find it interesting if you’re thinking about selling mappy things.”
Previously: The Logistics of Selling Maps.
Canada Map Sales to Close
The Canadian Press reports on the closure of Canada Map Sales, a map store owned by the Manitoba government that sells topo maps, nautical charts, and other maps, posters and imagery, at the end of March 2026. It’s a victim of the digital age, says the cabinet minister responsible, who points to alternative online sources for the maps. (On the other hand, it might also be because the store is in a nondescript government building in an industrial park in southwest Winnipeg.)
GIS and Enshittification
Linda Stevens believes that the GIS industry is showing signs of enshittification: “Coined by tech critic Cory Doctorow, ‘enshitification’ describes how once-great platforms decay under the pressures of greed and control. They begin as open, user-centered systems but gradually morph into closed ecosystems optimized for corporate rent-seeking rather than public good. GIS, long built on ideals of openness and shared data, now shows many of these symptoms.” In a second piece she says GIS, “with its specialized user base and high switching costs, is particularly vulnerable,” and lists some warning signs to watch out for (price hikes, degraded featurs and service, lock-in, upselling). She neither names names nor specifies specifics, mind.
Previously: Reimagining GIS.
A Video About the Map Center
A short video about the Map Center, the Rhode Island-based map store that, you will recall, Andrew Middleton took over two years ago. The video came about, Andrew says, when a customer came back and insisted on filming it. (“Is this the highest form of flattery? Most people just leave a review!”) What I appreciate most about it is being able to see what’s on his shelves and walls, especially since I can’t visit it in person right now.
Previously: Paper Maps: New Business, Lost Loves; A Map of Map Institutions; TPR on the Map Center.
The Logistics of Selling Maps
Logistics advice for the independent map seller. The Independent Map Artists (previously) have compiled their experiences of, and opinions about, dealing with online marketplaces, printers and shippers—the logistics vital to running a business selling printed maps.
World of Maps Owners Retiring, Seeking New Owners
Ottawa map and book store World of Maps is for sale, per their Facebook page: “After 30 years of running this interesting and profitable map & book business Petra and Brad want to sell and retire. There are plenty of adventures and trips still to take after we find the next owner(s) who we can help take it over.”
Previously: World of Maps Turns 25.
Google Maps at 20
Google Maps launched 20 years ago today. Here’s what I posted at the time:
First impressions. This is frigging amazing, with smooth scrolling and zooming: you’re not constantly reloading pages like in MapQuest. Huge mapping surface. And drop shadows. […] I’m impressed by the detail. They’ve got my area, which is kind of a rural backwater: they’ve got the roads all named, but strangely not the towns. Oh well, data’s rarely perfect—especially when it’s just a beta launch. And for a beta this is awfully impressive.
A flurry of additional announcements followed in quick sucession: the launch of Google Earth, the Maps API that enabled people to build their own maps on top of Google’s interface. The mid-2000s were a busy time for online maps, let me tell you. I had so much to keep up with.
The development and origins of Google Maps, and Google Earth, are the subject of the latest and timely installment of James Killick’s “12 Map Happenings that Rocked Our World.” It seems that the Maps side of things was largely about providing Google search results through a map interface, and when you look at Google’s post commemorating the 20th anniversary, which highlights 20 features of Google Maps, it’s clear how expansive that idea has become.
James also makes reference to a book I somehow completely missed when it came out: Never Lost Again: The Google Mapping Revolution That Sparked New Industries and Augmented Our Reality, an insider history by Google project manager Bill Kilday. (Harper Business, 2018). Amazon (Canada, UK), Bookshop.
TPR on the Map Center
The Public’s Radio talks with Andrew Middleton, who you will remember took over the Map Center in Pawtucket, RI in 2023. The focus of the piece is on how Andrew came to own the store and why he doesn’t see Google and Apple as competitors. “I see them as selling information. I do not sell information. I sell a good story.”
Previously: Paper Maps: New Business, Lost Loves; A Map of Map Institutions.
A Map of Map Institutions
Andrew Middleton, the owner of the Map Center in Pawtucket, RI (previously), has put together a map of map stores and non-commercial map institutions (archives, libraries, etc.). Comment on Bluesky to suggest other places.
Earlier this month, Andrew posted about the state of the map store, wherein he lays out what makes up his business and where he’d like to go from here. (Mind you, that was before this post and this post went all sorts of viral.)