A New AI Tool for the Design of Cartographic Pictograms (PictoAI) and Its Potentials for Increasing Their Meaningfulness

Abstract This study introduces PictoAI, a custom AI tool developed by the cartographic research team at Ruhr University Bochum for the generation of cartographic pictograms. This study also evaluates its effectiveness compared to traditional pictograms used by OpenStreetMap (OSM). In thematic cartography, the clarity and interpretability of pictograms are crucial for effective communication, yet user interpretation can differ from expert-designed pictogram meanings. By using artificial intelligence, specifically a custom GPT model integrated with DALL-E by OpenAI, PictoAI offers an approach for the automated generation of visually consistent and thematically appropriate pictograms. An empirical study involving 70 participants compared the interpretability of 24 AI-generated pictograms with the equivalent OSM pictograms. Results show that PictoAI-generated pictograms were significantly more interpretable, with a correct response rate of 67.26%, compared to 31.79% for OSM pictograms. The study highlights the potential of graphic AI in enhancing cartographic communication by demonstrating that AI-generated pictograms can significantly improve interpretability and efficiency in thematic cartography. The findings also underscore the future role of AI in automating and democratizing the pictogram creation process in cartography. PictoAI is already accessible and can be explored as a Chat-GPT-subscriber with this website ( https://chatgpt.com/g/g-1465GB5y0-pictoai ).