Digital geographies II: All about AI. What’s old? What’s new? Where to?

The last 2 years have seen a marked rise of geographical work engaging with generative artificial intelligence (AI) across the discipline. Despite this recent surge of interest, there is a much longer history of geographers contributing to debates on AI and actively asking what automated technologies mean for the discipline and what geography can add to our knowledge on the implications of AI. In this report I provide a brief historical overview of discussions on AI within geography before illustrating how geographers have been thinking through the epistemological, empirical and methodological implications of AI. The report points to future research directions and opportunities that AI presents to geography alongside the need for geographers to continue to ask critical questions of AI and actively engage with what these questions reveal.

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Publication Details

Journal
Progress in Human Geography
Published
2025-11-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/03091325251398858
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Geographic Information Systems Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
13.44
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article

Digital geographies II: All about AI. What’s old? What’s new? Where to?

Sophia Maalsen
2 citations
Progress in Human Geography
Geographic Information Systems Studies
13.44
article

Digital geographies II: All about AI. What’s old? What’s new? Where to?

Sophia Maalsen
article en
2 citations

Abstract

The last 2 years have seen a marked rise of geographical work engaging with generative artificial intelligence (AI) across the discipline. Despite this recent surge of interest, there is a much longer history of geographers contributing to debates on AI and actively asking what automated technologies mean for the discipline and what geography can add to our knowledge on the implications of AI. In this report I provide a brief historical overview of discussions on AI within geography before illustrating how geographers have been thinking through the epistemological, empirical and methodological implications of AI. The report points to future research directions and opportunities that AI presents to geography alongside the need for geographers to continue to ask critical questions of AI and actively engage with what these questions reveal.

Progress in Human Geography
The University of Sydney (AU), Family Planning NSW (AU), Faculty of Design (SI)
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Geographic Information Systems Studies
13.44
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Digital geographies II: All about AI. What’s old? What’s new? Where to? — Sophia Maalsen · Progress in Human Geography (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS