Urban Planning & Governance in the Age of AI : A Study of the Potential Benefits and Risks

Sammanfattning: Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly developing technology which in this project refers to software that given objectives generate content, predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing their environment. Using literature reviews and semi-structured interviews, the current and future uses, sentiments, regulations, and risks of AI in urban planning and governance are gathered. While current uses are few, the potential capabilities range from highly complex and large-scale, to small-scale and routine tasks. These tasks include smart resource management, predictive analysis, digital personal assistance, intelligent data processing, and visualization and recommendation. The general goal is to better reinvest human time and effort, for instance in providing meaningful citizen interactions. A lack of good governance and regulation of AI could permit profit-driven technology companies to control the discourse, possibly contributing to issues of public trust, lack of transparency and accountability, inequality, and public participation. Organisations and nations including the UN, EU, and Sweden have formulated strategies for AI, and the EU is currently developing the first regulatory framework for AI facilitating the protection of good operation, design, inclusivity, and privacy of the systems. Further research and debate on this topic is needed to ensure that AI is developed, implemented, and used ethically and responsibly.