Year: 2025
Type: book-review
Abstract: The book 'The AI City', by WU Siegried Zhiqiang, explores how artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping urban environments and urban planning worldwide.Central to the book is the introduction of the 'City Multi-Brain', a novel AI model that learns to operate in direct coordination with a real city by engaging with its social structures and daily activities.This AI model brings together a range of stakeholders, each benefiting in distinct ways: strategic city decision-makers use the model to inform policy and long-term planning; department managers leverage its insights to boost operational efficiency; investors and developers gain predictive analytics for more informed project planning; operations managers and employees can streamline workflows, and visitors experience improved city services through real-time adaptations.The 'City Multi-Brain' describes an integrated system where artificial intelligence does not operate in isolation, but instead learns from and alongside the city's residents, much like how various minds work together within a community.This collaborative approach forms what the author refers to as a 'multi-brain collective intelligence model'-a network in which human and machine intelligences join forces to organise, collaborate, and act, thereby exceeding the capabilities of a single AI or individual mind.This book distinguishes itself by describing the use of simulation to embed an AI model in a real city, tracking how it learns and evolves with citizens.Unlike other works, it specifically explores how AI can enhance collective intelligence through direct engagement with urban communities.It is thus a useful description of this AI model and as such serves as an introduction to all those interested to know more about this model.The book is organised into 15 chapters that explore how artificial intelligence is shaping urban life and urban planning.The first five chapters introduce key concepts, their evolution, and main goals.Chapter 1 ('The Development of the Smart City') traces the rise of the smart city in America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and China, starting with IBM's introduction of the term in 2008.Major cities like Beijing and Shanghai made advancements in smart transportation and healthcare through pilot projects, but challenges such as limited data sharing and poor interdepartmental cooperation seem to remain as described in the book.In the second chapter ('Beyond Smart City: The AI City is Coming'), the author discusses the evolution of AI from traditional methods to AI 2.0, highlighting advancements in machine theorem proving, translation, expert systems, gaming, pattern recognition, learning, and robotics.AI 2.0, introduced in 2016, features big data intelligence, swarm intelligence, cross-media capabilities, human-machine augmented intelligence, and autonomous systems.These developments drive innovation in areas like smart cities, healthcare, and autonomous vehicles.The chapter also
DOI: 10.4018/ijepr.391336
Author: Carlos Nunes Silva
Language: English
Subfield: Media Technology
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4415124163
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