Need of AI integration for Smart Urbanisation

The concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) came a few decades ago. It was seen as an evil machine that can take over the world and turn it into a doomsday place. However, the reality is different. The most growing and required dimension for Artificial Intelligent technologies can be seen around us in our cities. We are moving towards an era where we talk about smart cities. Many countries are bringing policies and implementing new technologies for building new cities or renovating the present ones with the inclusion of AI. India has also published its “National Strategy for AI”.
In India, the Smart City Mission was launched in 2015 by the GoI with a plan to develop 100 smart cities. Uptill now, many cities have been provided with the most eminent facilities-better municipal infrastructure, the inclusion of big data technologies in managing traffic and energy usage, maintaining safety and security of citizens at public places, etc. But it has lagged in universal implementation of the actual concept.

How AI can help in building smart cities?

Artificial intelligent system can be used in governing the quality of life in a city. AI can monitor real-time traffic in the city and provide authorities with solutions regarding where to deploy the force on ground for managing traffic. It can effectively help to divert the traffic in case of an accident on a stretch or traffic snarling on a particular street for whatsoever reason by intelligently turning on and off the traffic lights.
Public safety and security can also be enhanced by AI through sophisticated surveillance technologies, linking criminal database, monitoring violation of rules, monitoring accident patterns, and so on.
AI can also be used for crowd management at time of festivals. It can also be used for managing the smart distribution of energy and water supply.
AI can greatly affect the citizens’ service delivery by creating intelligent bots which can work 24×7 and can respond according to the behavioral changes of a person interacting with them. Other than these, AI can greatly assist in numerous other city functions to improve the public accessibility, including maintenance of outdoor spaces, parking facilities, education sector, agricultural sector, skill development, disaster management and so on.

India’s approach towards AI

India’s aspirations, combined with the advancement in AI, and a desire to assume leadership in this nascent technology means India’s approach towards AI strategy has to be balanced for both local needs and greater good. NITI Aayog adopted a three-pronged approach to address the challenges in few sectors. First, it will undertake exploratory proof of concept AI projects. Second, it will strive to build a thriving ecosystem, in collaboration with start-ups and mature enterprises. Third, it will create a multi-stakeholder, multinational approach. An integral part of India’s national AI strategy will be to share best practices and innovative operating models with other developing countries, thereby making it an innovation hub for emerging economies.