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GeoAI, or geospatial artificial intelligence, has become a trending topic and the frontier for spatial analytics in Geography. Although much progress has been made in exploring the integration of AI and Geography, there is yet no clear definition of GeoAI, its scope of research, or a broad discussion of how it enables new ways of problem solving across social and environmental sciences. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of GeoAI research used in large-scale image analysis, and its methodological foundation, most recent progress in geospatial applications, and comparative advantages over traditional methods. We organize this review of GeoAI research according to different kinds of image or structured data, including satellite and drone images, street views, and geo-scientific data, as well as their applications in a variety of image analysis and machine vision tasks. While different applications tend to use diverse types of data and models, we summarized six major strengths of GeoAI research, including (1) enablement of large-scale analytics; (2) automation; (3) high accuracy; (4) sensitivity in detecting subtle changes; (5) tolerance of noise in data; and (6) rapid technological advancement. As GeoAI remains a rapidly evolving field, we also describe current knowledge gaps and discuss future research directions.
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Human-centered GeoAI foundation models: where GeoAI meets human dynamics
Abstract This study examines the role of human dynamics within Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI), highlighting its potential to reshape the geospatial research field. GeoAI, emerging from the confluence of geospatial technologies and artificial intelligence, is revolutionizing our comprehension of human-environmental interactions. This revolution is powered by large-scale models trained on extensive geospatial datasets, employing deep learning to analyze complex geospatial phenomena. Our findings highlight the synergy between human intelligence and AI. Particularly, the humans-as-sensors approach enhances the accuracy of geospatial data analysis by leveraging human-centric AI, while the evolving GeoAI landscape underscores the significance of human–robot interaction and the customization of GeoAI services to meet individual needs. The concept of mixed-experts GeoAI, integrating human expertise with AI, plays a crucial role in conducting sophisticated data analyses, ensuring that human insights remain at the forefront of this field. This paper also tackles ethical issues such as privacy and bias, which are pivotal for the ethical application of GeoAI. By exploring these human-centric considerations, we discuss how the collaborations between humans and AI transform the future of work at the human-technology frontier and redefine the role of AI in geospatial contexts.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2401860
- PAR ID:
- 10570379
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Science + Business Media
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Urban Informatics
- Volume:
- 4
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2731-6963
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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