{"id":1842680,"date":"2025-06-12T09:47:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T13:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1842680"},"modified":"2025-06-12T19:07:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T23:07:25","slug":"ai-chatbots-and-geolocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/06\/ai-chatbots-and-geolocation\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Chatbots and Geolocation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AI chatbots don\u2019t have the best track record when it comes to accuracy<\/a>. They appear to struggle with geolocation too, as Bellingcat discovered two years ago<\/a> in a test of OpenAI and Google chatbots. Bellingcat has now tested them again<\/a>, this time putting 20 large-language models to work on 25 travel photos to see if things have improved, with Google Lens reverse image search as a control. The result? A few ChatGPT models outperformed Google Lens, but not by much; the rest were worse. Details at the link<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Update<\/em>: Bellingcat\u2019s coverage goes in quite a different direction than reports last April highlighting ChatGPT\u2019s \u201cscary\u201d ability to pinpoint locations from photographs<\/a>, largely because it compares it with existing non-AI reverse image search. Privacy risks<\/a> may not depend on the kind<\/em> of technology analyzing the photo, in other words.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AI chatbots don\u2019t have the best track record when it comes to accuracy. They appear to struggle with geolocation too, as Bellingcat discovered two years ago in a test of OpenAI and Google chatbots. Bellingcat… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1359,420,1651,646],"class_list":["post-1842680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ai","tag-geolocation","tag-llm","tag-privacy","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1786078,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/08\/pentagon-tells-personnel-to-turn-off-geolocation-in-sensitive-areas\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842680,"position":0},"title":"Pentagon Tells Personnel to Turn Off Geolocation in Sensitive Areas","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"7 August 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"In the wake of reports that fitness apps' user data was exposed and could be used to identify military and intelligence personnel in sensitive areas like bases and deployment zones, U.S. military and defense employees can no longer use geolocation features in devices and apps in operational areas.\u00a0The new policy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "GPS"","block_context":{"text":"GPS","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/gps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1787032,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/01\/another-geolocation-horror-show-this-time-from-south-africa\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842680,"position":1},"title":"Another Geolocation Horror Show, This Time from South Africa","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"21 January 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Remember the farm in Kansas that, thanks to an error in MaxMind\u2019s geolocation database, became the default physical location for any IP address in the United States that couldn't be resolved? It's happened again, this time to a couple in Pretoria, South Africa, who received online and physical threats and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Map Errors"","block_context":{"text":"Map Errors","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/map-errors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1786138,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/08\/ap-google-tracks-your-location-even-when-you-tell-it-not-to\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842680,"position":2},"title":"AP: Google Tracks Your Location, Even When You Tell It Not To","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"15 August 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"\"Google wants to know where you go so badly that it records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to,\" the Associated Press reports. Their exclusive investigation discovered that \"many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you\u2019ve used a privacy setting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1789833,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/12\/apple-and-google-ban-location-tracking-sdk-from-apps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842680,"position":3},"title":"Apple and Google Ban Location Tracking SDK from Apps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 December 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"Last month it was reported that the X-Mode software development kit, used by many apps, was collecting and selling user location data, with the U.S. military among the buyers. In response, earlier this month both Apple and Google gave developers a deadline to remove X-Mode from their apps: seven days\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1786825,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/12\/new-york-times-how-location-data-is-gathered-shared-and-sold\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842680,"position":4},"title":"New York Times: How Location Data Is Gathered, Shared and Sold","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"13 December 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"A long expos\u00e9 from the New York Times explores just how much location data is collected from mobile apps, to the point where the identity of an anonymous user can be reconstructed from where they've been. The key point: whatever purpose the app is collecting your location for (for example,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1806513,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2022\/03\/mapping-the-russian-invasion-of-ukraine-roundup-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842680,"position":5},"title":"Mapping the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Roundup #3","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"24 March 2022","format":"link","excerpt":"The Financial Times has a storymap exploring how Russian mistakes and unexpectedly stiff Ukrainian resistance changed the expected outcome of the war. [Maps Mania] Bellingcat has launched a map showing civilian harm in Ukraine. \u201cIncluded in the map are instances where civilian areas and infrastructure have been damaged or destroyed,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Conflicts"","block_context":{"text":"Conflicts","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/conflicts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1842680"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1842690,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842680\/revisions\/1842690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1842680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1842680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1842680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}