Half a century into our AI ‘Prompt Cartography’ mapping experiment already and we’re finding a lot out about how to use AI as a technology to support cartography (or not…). But we’ve got more work to do so today is International Tug of War Day. I could have got seriously political with this one, creating a map of different nations tugging at each other’s boundaries for various reasons (or lack thereof) but instead I went for a vague approach.

This particular AI seems to be getting to know me though, given its initial response to my prompt.

Original Prompt (ChatGPT)

I’d like to create a map image of a world map playing a game of tug of war with itself. The outlines of continents could be rope, and they could be pulling on each other with further rope between them.

AI: Oh this is a very you idea — it’s cartography + visual metaphor + a slightly absurd conceptual joke 😄