Smart Cities: How Does AI Make Cities Smarter?

Rapid and permanent urbanization is everywhere around the globe.

More than sixty percent of the world's population will likely reside in urban areas by the year 2050. 

More and more people are moving to urban areas in search of better opportunities. This influx has increased the need for smart city solutions that can help build sustainable, efficient, and advantageous settings that can improve the quality of life for city dwellers. For as long as there have been cities, planners have sought to enhance these indicators. However, many of the urban infrastructures already in place are either outdated or incapable of meeting the demands of a steadily expanding population. The government should use modern technology to make people's lives easier and safer. 

This has spurred the development of the idea of "smart cities," which use cutting-edge smart city technology.

In this blog article, we will cover:

• The Definition of Smart City
• Optimizing Energy In Smart Cities With AI
• Improving Transport In Smart Cities With AI
• Ai And Maintenance
• Ai And Safety 
• Computer Vision In Construction

What Are Smart Cities?

Actually, there is no definition of a smart city, and its meaning varies by city and nation.

A "Smart City" is an urban area that uses information and communication technologies to help the economy grow, improve the quality of life, and support the city.

They use cutting-edge technology solutions to improve their current infrastructure, which helps support and optimize urban services while lowering costs and resource use. Smart cities can become even smarter with artificial intelligence technology, and residents and companies in a "smart city" benefit greatly.

For instance, a local government could improve citizens' ability to monitor and access healthcare, emergency services, and other public resources by interconnecting their transportation and energy grid systems, constructing energy-efficient buildings equipped with sensors, and developing communications.

According to McKinsey's research, a smart city comprises three interconnected levels. To begin with, the technical foundation is made up of phones and sensor-equipped gadgets that generate data and hook up to lightning-fast communication networks.

In the second step, computers analyze the information and provide usable answers to individual questions. 

Thirdly, people interact with these technologies; all Smart City applications rely on people using these technologies simultaneously and contributing data to make forecasts.

How Does AI Make Cities Smarter?

Smart city solutions powered by AI have the potential to learn from citizens' interactions with their communities. Daily advancements in AI algorithm quality are to be expected. AI has the potential to study urban dwellers and their habits to improve urban planning and management. It has the potential to reveal previously hidden facts, allowing the municipal government to better anticipate the needs of its citizens and provide for them in advance. 

Let's check out how it works.

Data is produced in large quantities in cities due to the prevalence of public transportation, municipal taxes, police records, traffic sensors, and weather stations. Data like this must be gathered and evaluated to provide results that can be used to improve a city. But this is a lot more information in its raw form than anyone could ever hope to see, interpret, or evaluate. 

Where AI enters is at this point. Artificial intelligence can handle massive amounts of data from various sources, allowing for the discovery of insights that can be used to boost the effectiveness and efficiency of municipal operations while reducing associated expenses.

Due to a lack of real-time information, a significant portion of a city's public infrastructure is underused, overutilized, or employed inefficiently at any moment. AI-powered smart city systems can collect and analyze data from a wide variety of municipal services.

All sorts of problems, from traffic to criminality, can be solved in "smart cities" thanks to the combination of AI and analytics based on data collected by sensors throughout the urban environment.

• AI can help the citizen-centered program.
• It is open to input from the general public.
• AI has the potential to make effective use of current assets.

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Use Cases of AI in Smart Cities

Let's see some potential use cases of AI in smart cities:

AI and Transportation in Smart Cities

It's no secret that navigating city traffic is a hassle. A significant issue with urban transportation is traffic congestion. Congestion results from an inadequate road network and an ever-growing automobile population. The apparent flaw in the idea that road expansion would help is why it wouldn't be safe. That will never be a viable solution to traffic congestion.

Congestion can be strictly avoided with the help of an AI-driven traffic signaling and sensor system. AI-powered traffic cameras can collect data in real-time on vehicle density, which can subsequently be sent to the traffic control center to inform adjustments to the timing of the signals. Reduced stress when driving offers both personal and monetary benefits that result from the improved traffic flow. If traffic jams can be eased, communities can save money on gasoline and reduce the number of workers needed to keep traffic moving smoothly.

Check out our article to learn more about AI use cases in the automotive industry.

Optimizing Energy in Smart Cities With AI

Using AI, smart cities can track and evaluate the energy use of their companies and citizens, providing valuable information for determining the optimal placement of renewable energy generation facilities. City planners might use this information to identify areas of high energy waste and implement conservation measures.

AI and Public Safety in Smart Cities

Every city has the difficult task of combating crime and enhancing public safety. When it comes to fighting crime, AI is a powerful new friend. AI can leverage the same networks of sensors and cameras used for traffic monitoring for real-time monitoring, analytics, and decision-making, which can save lives and prevent crime.

The everyday use of AI in law enforcement is the examination of vehicle license plates to locate stolen automobiles, spotting lapsed registrations, and cross-referencing these details with criminal databases. Predictive policing has several applications for law enforcement, including the tracking and management of sexual offenders and the fight against gang violence.

In smart cities, police use license plate reader technology to find stolen cars, expired registrations and other information against criminal databases. One company that makes them, Leonardo, says that automated LPRs can be attached to the bottom of police cruisers and can scan up to 1,800 license plates per minute across four lanes of traffic. If a plate is flagged for some kind of violation, the police are notified almost right away.

AI and Sustainability in Smart Cities

Smart cities can use AI to see how they affect the local environment, global warming, and the amount of pollution in the area. Using AI and machine learning to control pollution and figure out how much energy to use helps governments and cities make decisions that are good for the environment.

AI is also used in smart cities to detect the level of CO2, which can then be used to make transportation decisions.

In our last blog post, we talked about AI and climate change; you can click here to read it.

Computer Vision in Construction

Computer vision can be applied to many compliance monitoring tasks in a smart city. As human monitoring of compliance and dangerous situations is difficult, time-consuming, and costly, AI vision approaches provide automated and scalable alternatives. Furthermore, computer vision techniques are not only more precise but also save time. Since expert safety officials are not constantly on hand, inspection procedures cannot be relied upon for routine use. Complex, expansive areas can be continuously monitored with the help of computer vision algorithms.

Those in the construction business are roughly five times more likely to be injured or killed on the job than workers in any other industry. While on the job, workers can prevent many injuries by using the correct PPE, such as helmets, safety glasses, vests, hand gloves, steel-toe boots, etc.

Compliance monitoring is essential to successfully discover circumstances where employees are not wearing sufficient PPE or when norm breaches are occurring consistently.

Final Words

Overall, Smart City technology's potential applications hold great promise for drastically changing city life. Smart cities are enhanced via computer vision and artificial intelligence technologies, resulting in increased productivity, efficiency, safety, and economic benefit.

The Cameralyze AI platform makes implementing computer vision solutions simple, all-encompassing, and inexpensive. AI image solutions are ideal for any business hoping to increase productivity. To learn more about applications of AI in business, read our blog article.

Check out Cameralyze's free trial if you're interested in computer vision and AI applications.