Challenges and Opportunities for Mapping and Surveying and Location Based Service in the Age of Intelligence

The sparks of an intelligent revolution, triggered by artificial intelligence, are spreading to all walks of life. The challenges and opportunities for methods, technology, as well as industrial and business models of mapping, surveying, and location based services, are a question that has to be considered in depth. The development paths and trends in artificial intelligence, are discussed for an understanding of the characteristics of the new generation of artificial intelligence. The opportunities and challenges brought by the coming age of intelligence are analyzed. Focusing on the field of mapping, surveying and location based services, this paper argues that this industry will not disappear but has a new impetus towards transformation. The possible paths for transformation are discussed. As an academic discipline, it will not expand, but fuse and cross disciplinary borders. As a career, it will make blue collar work an evaporating endeavor, while a number of makers and thinkers will become leading figures. The mapping, surveying, and location based service industry needs to fully tap their own advantages, with systemic thinking, space-time thinking and creative thinking as the key to open the door of the age of intelligence. Thereby, an overall transformation for mapping, surveying and location based service industry to be green, intelligent, pervasive development can be achieved.