‘Civic Urban AI’: Expert Meeting 14 Nov. 2024

A Governing the Digital Society event, in collaboration with [urban interfaces] and the Open Cities Platform.

Organized by Michiel de Lange (M.L.deLange@uu.nl) and Erna Ruijer (H.J.M.Ruijer@uu.nl) – SIG Inclusion; Stephan Grimmelikhuijsen (S.G.Grimmelikhuijsen@uu.nl) – SIG AIGOBE

Date: 14 November 2024 14:30 – 16:30 + drinks

Locatie: Kromme Nieuwegracht 20, Utrecht, Foyer (ground floor)

Sign up here: https://www.uu.nl/en/events/civic-urban-ai-expert-meeting-2024

Towards civic urban AI

In the last few years there has been a surge of AI deployment in urban settings. Examples include camera surveillance with image recognition, predictive policing, sound/noise detection, autonomous vehicles and robotics, energy distribution prediction and optimization, traffic optimization, public services using synthetic voice chat, the use of algorithms in welfare schemes, urban planning. However, the majority of these AI applications serve the narrow interests of public administration and/or businesses, instead of collective stakes and societal values. Urban AI use cases overwhelmingly focus on further optimizing control, efficiency and consumption at the expense of (other) public values. Often this happens at the expense of marginalized communities and public values. Furthermore, there is the risk of ‘mission creep’ when deployment shifts from specific aims toward broad general purpose applications. Public governance structures and procedures, and institutional frameworks that safeguard public values are frequently lacking. How can urban AI be conceptualized and designed with civic aims and values like inclusiveness, accountability, and transparency in mind? In short, how can urban AI be (re)conceptualized, developed and governed as civic urban AI?

Questions

In this explorative seminar/expert meeting on the topic of civic urban AI, we bring together researchers from the Netherlands and elsewhere in order to discuss how responsible civic urban AI can be conceptualized and what it could look like in practice. We want to collect examples of AI deployment in urban settings, and scrutinize whether and how this harms or supports public civic values, and how approaching this from the angle of civicness and public values provides more just alternatives. How can we anchor ‘urban AI’ in civic public values? How can AI make the city more beautiful, equal, accessible, inclusive and participatory? We will break down these overarching questions into 3 sub-questions, each approaching the notion of civic urban AI from one specific angle:

1. From the perspective of technological and medium-specificities of AI: how can public values and ‘civics’ be part of the development, training, evaluation, etc. of AI systems?
2. From the perspective of urban culture and city life: what are the implications of urban AI for urban society, and what is needed from civic urban AI systems to make cities inclusive, vibrant and hospitable places? 
3. From the perspective of governance and public administration: what institutional challenges arise from AI applications in urban settings, and how can civic urban AI be anchored in fair and just governance and institutional frameworks?

Aims

The aim of this expert meeting is to open the dialogue between various disciplines engaging with AI in urban and public contexts, to begin formulating outlines and principles for responsible uses of urban AI, to start forming coalitions, and to start wider public debates about AI applications in urban settings. This expert meeting could further lead to a series of events, publications, collaborations and coalition building, and so on.   

Program

14:30 – 15:15 Welcome

After a brief introduction by the organizers, three invited experts open the meeting with a short opening statement of ca. 10 minutes, sharing their initial thoughts, a key question, a challenge, or a provocation, from the perspective of each of the 3 angles (tech, urban, governance). Speakers are:

• On governance: Prof. dr. Esther Keymolen, Tilburg University (https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/staff/e-l-o-keymolen)
• On urban inclusion: Prof. dr. Ajay Bailey, Utrecht University (https://www.uu.nl/staff/ABailey)  
• On ‘civic’ AI: Dr. Mirko Schaeffer, Utrecht University (https://www.uu.nl/staff/MTSchaefer) 

15:15 : 16:15 Breakout & dialogue

Format breakout sessions: 

• Either around one of the 3 angles (tech, urban, governance), 
• Or around a specific use case of urban AI 

16:15-16:30 Wrap-up

Next steps: where is the energy and urgency? What are ambitions?  E.g. coalition building, possible calls, joint (writing) projects, etc.

16:30 Drinks