MIT book on visual AI for urban studies

Researchers from the MIT Senseable City Lab have published "How AI Sees the City," a book examining the application of visual artificial intelligence to urban planning and design. The authors, including Fábio Duarte and Carlo Ratti, argue that computer vision allows for the quantification of city features like emissions and traffic flow at unprecedented scales, building on the traditions of earlier urbanists like Kevin Lynch. While highlighting benefits such as improved safety and environmental monitoring, the text also details serious pitfalls, including mass surveillance concerns in cities like Shanghai and the reinforcement of social biases through non-neutral training data. The publication serves as a guide for policymakers and planners to balance technological capability with ethical considerations.