AI and Geospatial Analytics
Do you want to use AI to save lives after an earthquake, increase crop yields, improve public health and discover more ways to help society? If so, you’re in the right place. This unique major combines AI with the science of analyzing locations, and is perfect for people who want to study maps and use geospatial data from diverse sources such as drones, social media, satellites and weather observations to solve problems anywhere in the world. Keep reading about this exciting field of geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) and see how AI and geospatial analytics can be integrated to help address important challenges facing our society, such as those related to sustainable cities, disaster management, environmental health and ecosystem conservation.
What will I learn?
To understand how AI tools can be built by society and for society, you’ll start with an overview of different types of AI, the ethical issues involved, and how AI disrupts the environment and other parts of our lives. You’ll take a few math and statistics courses and learn about probability, machine learning and computational skills. In your geography classes, you’ll study our planet and the Earth system, the impacts of globalization on cities, human-environment interactions, geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial analysis. You’ll learn how to acquire, synthesize and critically use spatial data, as well as how to integrate AI and GIS to support disaster management, improve global health, protect communities and conserve important ecosystems. Finally, you’ll have a capstone course where you can bring together everything you’ve learned to develop potential solutions to real-world problems.
UB: A Leader in AI
- Home to Empire AI, a statewide hub for addressing societal challenges through AI.
- Home to National AI Institute funded by the National Science Foundation.
- More than 400 researchers involved with AI.
- Multiple institutes and centers focused on AI applications.
- Other degree programs like this one create a community of students focused on the study of AI for the social good.
What can I do with an AI and Geospatial Analytics degree?
When you combine these two in-demand skillsets, you might end up working for a big technology company with a geospatial business (e.g., Google, Apple, Microsoft and Esri), a start-up that analyzes satellite data, a public health nonprofit, an insurance company that analyzes location-related risks, a state or city planning office, or nearly any organization that needs to understand and analyze location-based information and trends.
Potential careers include:
- Agricultural land analyst.
- Biodiversity specialist.
- Climate risk expert.
- Community wildfire protection planner.
- Environmental analyst.
- Geospatial software engineer.
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist.
- Health surveillance analyst.
- Intelligence analyst.
- Location intelligence director.
- Public policy advisor.
- Remote sensing analyst.
- Urban planner.
You can also further your education with an advanced degree in a related area, including AI, geography, GIS, international trade and more.