What Happens if Artificial Intelligence Represents the Cartography of the Future?!

In recent weeks and months, much has been written in the media (and also in this journal) about the consequences that artificial intelligence (AI) can have for society. In the editorial of issue 1, for example, I wrote that AI could not yet draw maps. As I have learned in the meantime (and thanks to student feedback), there are also current developments that arouse curiosity and that should be further elaborated: What happens when the chatbot ChatGPT is asked how it imagines the cartography of the future? And what happens in a second step when its transcription is used as input for an AI-based image creation software? ChatGPT characterizes the cartography of the future in a few seconds as follows, and Midjourney captures the graphical interpretation in a visualization after about a minute. You can see one result of "AI art" on the cover of this issue: “I envision the cartography of the future as a dynamic and interactive system that seamlessly integrates data from multiple sources to create highly detailed and customizable maps. In my mind's eye, I see a person standing in front of a giant, wall-sized display surrounded by floating holographic images of cities, landmarks, and landscapes. This person directs gestures at the display, and the holographic images come alive, showing real-time information such as traffic patterns, weather conditions and population density. Using hand-movements, the map zooms in and out, providing a more detailed or broader view of the area. Suddenly, a notification appears on the screen indicating an earthquake nearby. The map automatically adjusts, highlighting the affected area and providing real-time updates on seismic activity. As the person continues to explore the map, an area of interest appears and more information is requested. The holographic images expand to provide a 3D view of the location, as well as additional data such as historical landmarks, cultural sites, and environmental factors. In this vision of the future, cartography is not just a static representation of geography, but a living and breathing system that adapts to the needs and interests of the user. It empowers individuals and organizations with the tools they need to make informed decisions and solve complex problems.” At this point, I do not want to evaluate the result of the interaction of two artificial intelligences presented here. Rather, dear KN readers, I would be interested in your opinions and comments on it. What strengths and weaknesses do you see in the result of the case example? Many letters to the editor would be desirable for the discourse on this, which will certainly occupy us all in many ways. Impulses for this part of the editorial and the cover illustration came from the Bochum M.Sc. student Jule Drews— many thanks! Following on from the previous thoughts, I cannot (yet) offer you a separate thematic issue on the development and application of AI in cartography. Instead, this thematically diverse issue contains 6 research articles, which (as usual) were accepted for publication after peer review and have already appeared online first. Many thanks to all 22 authors and to all reviewers who participated! The first two articles are a selection of the works presented at the fourth CityVis workshop on urban data visualisation, held in November 2022, at Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, co-organized by the German Cartographic Society (DGfK). Christoph Huber, Till Nagel and Heiner Stuckenschmidt introduce the concept of data experience points by means of a case study on the visualization of urban air quality. The study includes participation approaches enriching the methodological approach. Liubov Tupikina, Bernardo Monechi, Yasamin Nematollahi, and Vladislav Afanasiev deal with the analysis and visualization of geospatial data in urban space from an urbanist * Dennis Edler Dennis.Edler@ruhr-uni-bochum.de