Introduction
A global study conducted by ServiceNow and Deloitte involving 250 cities has identified that 56% of cities are actively using artificial intelligence (AI) to upgrade government operations and services, and 83% of the cities are planning to utilize AI in the next three years. The research titled ‘AI-Powered Cities of the Future’ has revealed that cities are deploying AI across various urban domains, such as 65% of cities are using it to streamline government operations, 64% are using it to upgrade public transportation, 62% to respond to urban risks, and many other aspects.
According to the study, cities with the highest level of AI usage across all domains are considered AI leaders. These cities are well-equipped to tackle urban challenges proactively compared to other cities. Hence, they have emerged as the leaders of this technological implementation in urban contexts.
In response to various urban challenges, these cities are utilizing AI-generated solutions to become more resilient to urban stressors and challenges, becoming more future-ready than ever before. Through this article on The CEO Views, we will delve deeper into how these cities use the power of AI to tackle urban challenges.
Domains Where Cities are Leveraging AI
Cities across the world are leveraging the power of AI to improve a range of domains, from operations to transportation. Cities excelling in employing AI in urban domains are AI leaders from which other cities can learn to make a position of their own in the race. Below are some of the most significant cases of AI use as ranked by cities-
- Traffic Management
- Energy Management
- Public Safety
- Predictive Maintenance
- Waste Management
- Customer Service
- Urban Planning
- Decision-making and Analysis
- Fraud Detection
- Cybersecurity
In areas from sustainability to public health and aging infrastructure to crime, AI-generated solutions are taking over complex manual tasks with easy-to-use and advanced measures across cities.
AI leaders are rated excellent in their responsible use of both traditional and Generative AI in urban areas. These cities use advanced AI to better weather urban challenges like supply chain, socioeconomic, and geopolitical.
Lessons to Learn from AI Leaders
In mitigating urban challenges, less AI-mature cities can look to AI leaders for inspiration and the successful implementation of AI-generated solutions.
-
A Commitment to Fulfill
These cities always have a vision and a plan to drive AI-generated development and societal change within a cost-friendly budget. These plans often start at a national level and drop down to cities for widespread adoption.
-
Developing AI Skills, Talent, and Processes
Successful adoption of AI across a city requires AI processes, skills, and talents for the future. AI leaders craft these skills and talent by delivering training to their leadership teams, residents, and staff. Many cities often partner with universities to draw talent and host AI boot camps to offer training to aspiring AI professionals.
-
Building a Data-Driven & IT Foundation
AI-driven cities rely on a cloud-based IT infrastructure that supports AI integration. These IT infrastructure systems help create a uniform data management system across urban domains to ensure wide data accessibility to stakeholders through the cloud infrastructure.
-
Fostering An AI Innovation Ecosystem
AI leaders bring together experts from research firms, tech companies, universities, and startups to help cultivate an AI-driven innovation ecosystem to drive their AI initiatives. These cities often hold group meetings with vendors to establish a cost-effective and cohesive digital foundation.
-
Transforming Urban Domains
AI solutions aim to transform urban domains through the increased and balanced use of conventional and Generative AI. From predictive maintenance of infrastructure to citizens’ portals, AI usage is maximized by these cities. Some cities are also exploring the use of the Agentic AI to empower independent decision-making. This technology is also used to fill the data gaps using AI-generated synthetic data.
-
Integrating AI with Other Technologies
AI is integrated with other technologies like cloud-based data platforms, blockchain, IoT, and more to scale AI initiatives, efficient and secure transactions, and enable real-time data collection. AI is also integrated with digital twins for optimization, planning, and simulations.
-
Prioritizing Data Security and Privacy
Dealing with a huge amount of data increases security and privacy-related risks that require proper control and management. AI leaders deploy cybersecurity processes and systems to detect, protect, and respond to cyber risks. AI-generated solutions are also used to respond proactively against cyberattacks.
Conclusion
Cities leveraging AI are handling urban issues like never before. As the technology continues to evolve, its power to do things in a better way is also continually evolving. From GenAI to Agentic AI, cities are empowering themselves by drawing value from an enormous amount of data for problem-solving. As AI leaders, cities must recognize the areas that can be improved using the technology. It is also important for them to acknowledge the significance of human interactions to successfully enforce safeguards while employing AI.
