Hello from the Atlas of Design editorial team. We have made a change to the submission requirements for the eighth volume of the Atlas. We ask those who are submitting to the Atlas to voluntarily disclose whether generative AI was used and if so, how generative AI shaped the work they are submitting.
Generative AI refers to a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content, such as text and images, based on patterns and data it has been trained on. Submissions to the previous volume of the Atlas opened in fall 2023, not even a year after the public release of ChatGPT. The capabilities of generative AI have massively increased since then, as has the popularity of generative AI tools such as Claude, Gemini and Adobe Firefly.
The editorial team is fully aware that technological tools have long been an integral part of the modern cartographer’s workflow. Generative AI tools make many steps of the mapmaking process — from researching and locating data to coding and geoprocessing — faster and easier. Generative AI tools also make possible an approach to mapmaking based entirely around written prompts. Whether prompting and design are the same thing, and whether they can compliment one another, is currently subject to debate.
The maps will still be judged by a panel of experienced cartographers assessing whether the work is intriguing, beautiful, clever, well-designed, or otherwise inspiring. To be included in the Atlas, work must often be many or all these things at once.
The Atlas of Design has the distinct mission of honoring great cartography and showcasing the breadth of design as applied to mapmaking. To be included in the Atlas is an accolade. Other organizations that distinguish great design work are likewise grappling with whether and how to regard these new tools. The Society for News Design disqualifies imagery and videos created even in part by generative AI from its annual awards, requiring submitters “attest that the final work was entirely done by the eyes, hands and mind of a human creator.” World Press Photo bans any image created wholly or in-part by generative AI.
The Atlas of Design editors have made no such conclusions about AI-infused work and will ultimately leave it up to the judges. We ask that submitters are honest and transparent about their use of generative AI. We ask in the interest of accountability and inquiry into how cartographers are using this rapidly advancing technology. We are guided to ask by the Atlas of Design’s mission statement: “In an age when more and more mapping tasks are being turned over to computers, the Atlas provides one more answer to the question: What do cartographers do?”
The Editors:
Aileen, Jake, Kristin, Mir