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Call for Participants in a Series of Sessions in Geospatial AI, Spatial Computing and Big Data, and Autonomous GIS at the AAG 2026

The Geoinformation and Big Data Research (GIBD) Laboratory at Penn State, in collaboration with several research groups from different institutions, is organizing a series of sessions at the AAG 2026 Annual Meeting in San Francisco. These sessions span a wide range of topics, including geospatial AI, autonomous GIS, geospatial big data, and spatial computing with applications to human mobility, disaster management, transportation, and infectious diseases.

Human mobility, transportation, infectious diseases, and disaster management form the backbone of today’s interconnected society. In an era of globalization and rapid urbanization, understanding the dynamics of these systems has become critically important. These sessions aim to provide a platform for scholars and practitioners to share innovative research and foster interdisciplinary dialogue. We warmly welcome researchers to submit their work to one of our sessions and present it at the upcoming AAG Annual Conference to reach a broader audience.

Over the past decade, GIScience has been profoundly transformed by advances in deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI). More recently, the emergence of generative AI models across text, vision, audio, and multi-modal modalities (e.g., GPT-4o) has opened new frontiers for representing, analyzing, and generating geographic knowledge.

Autonomous GIS, powered by geospatial AI agents capable of reasoning, analysis, and decision-making, marks a paradigm shift—transforming GIS from a traditional analytical tool into an artificial geospatial analyst. These agents can autonomously perform complex spatial tasks such as data collection, analysis, modeling, visualization, and reporting. While this emerging paradigm promises greater efficiency and scalability, it also introduces critical challenges related to bias, ethics, accountability, and the evolving role of human expertise.

In the area of Autonomous GIS, we have also organized several important and engaging paper sessions and panel sessions. We warmly invite researchers to join these sessions, present their work, and participate in thoughtful discussions with fellow experts and attendees. For more information, please see the sessions listed below.

Pannel Sessions:

Paper Sessions: