The Promise and Peril of Using Visual AI to Study Cities
How AI Sees the City: Urban Visual Intelligence,” a new Routledge book from the MIT Senseable City Lab and Peking University, argues that visual AI can turn the images cities already produce into detailed data on traffic, emissions, greenery and public space. MIT research in New York used 331 traffic cameras to show congestion pricing cut traffic by about 10% but emissions by 16% to 22%. The authors also warn of surveillance and bias. This article explains the method, the findings, the risks and the questions to ask before deploying visual AI in public spaces.
