ML has killed "looks okay from arm's length" cartography

On Friday Jan 12, 2024, I saw this post on my fav sosh network and I knew: in the very near future, maps will be either would-give-a-scriptorium-monk-a-headache detailed or total tossed-off dreck.

There will be no middle ground.

Now the computer could make 1) nav maps, 2) alright-at-range decor maps, 3) biz dashboard maps; that covers 99.999% of map use. You no longer needed a mapmaker to make a map that the median person might use or buy.

What's left over: sumptuous baroque craft, the domain of obsessives. Cartography's ne plus ultra was coming, and I hoped to see it in my lifetime.