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Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) Is Widening the Digital Divide

Xiao Huang

Published 2025 in Annals of the American Association of Geographers

ABSTRACT

Geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI), merging AI with spatial data, offers potent new ways to understand and shape our world. Yet, its ascent threatens to carve a deeper digital divide, moving beyond access gaps to fundamental inequities in data sovereignty, computational power, and the critical literacy required to navigate GeoAI’s complexities. This concentration of capability risks entrenching power, enabling the privileged to dominate spatial narratives and decisions driven by these technologies. This work dissects how GeoAI exacerbates existing socioeconomic, educational, and infrastructural divides, examining the profound implications for diverse communities. It argues that mitigation demands more than technological fixes; it necessitates inclusive policy frameworks, equitable resource distribution, and the deliberate cultivation of widespread GeoAI literacy. Failure risks a future where GeoAI amplifies injustice, demanding proactive strategies now to harness its power for genuinely equitable ends and shared societal benefit, rather than reinforcing existing fractures.

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