Map Reading and Analysis with GPT-4V(ision)

Abstract

In late 2023, the image-reading capability added to a Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) framework provided the opportunity to potentially revolutionize the way we view and understand geographic maps, the core component of cartography, geography, and spatial data science. In this study, we explore reading and analyzing maps with the latest version of GPT-4-vision-preview (GPT-4V), to fully evaluate its advantages and disadvantages in comparison with human eye-based visual inspections. We found that GPT-4V is able to properly retrieve information from various types of maps in different scales and spatiotemporal resolutions. GPT-4V can also perform basic map analysis, such as identifying visual changes before and after a natural disaster. It has the potential to replace human efforts by examining batches of maps, accurately extracting information from maps, and linking observed patterns with its pre-trained large dataset. However, it is encumbered by limitations such as diminished accuracy in visual content extraction and a lack of validation. This paper sets an example of effectively using GPT-4V for map reading and analytical tasks, which is a promising application for large multimodal models, large language models, and artificial intelligence.