Decision-making with AI in connected places and cities

Decision-making with AI in connected places and cities: Developing an ethical and responsible innovation rooted approach for public value creation

Public sector use of AI is growing, with some local authorities in England already using large language models and predictive analytics to make city-scale decisions. It is important that the use of AI to make decisions is ethical and leads to the desired outcomes.

This project aims to investigate how local authorities in England are using AI to make decisions about issues such as placemaking, land use and mobility, and sustainable water supply systems to create public value. The project will develop resources for local authorities to make ethical and informed choices and the use of AI as part of digitalisation initiatives.

The Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge will lead this project and facilitate collaboration with local authorities, and among experts in other domains including urban governance, philosophy and ethics. 

Dr Kwadwo Oti-Sarpong, AI-deas challenge lead, said: “We’re excited to be one of the winners of AI-deas and work on this project with practitioners across disciplines to shape the future of public sector decision-making using AI in creating connected places. 

Understanding how to practically root AI use in ethical considerations, and showing how that can be done, will significantly change how we create the future we want.”

Project contributors:

• Dr Jennifer Schooling FICE OBE, Department of Engineering
• Dr Li Wan, Department of Land Economy
• Dr Viviana Bastidas, Department of Engineering
• Dr Ramit Debnath, Department of Architecture and Cambridge Zero
• Dr Maya Ganesh, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, Institute of Continuing Education
• Dr Manuel Herrera, Department of Engineering
• Jerry Chen, Department of Land Economy