THE IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON SMART CITIES

1. Background

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in smart cities, its effect on governance, decision-making, innovative discipline, and prospects of revolution have been a topic of discussion in debate and practice recent years. Data generation utilizing AI is possible in government and private sectors exploring new approaches to understand our world. The availability of big data may be effective in optimum usage of resources while making informed decisions. Artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things can positively influence smart decision-making. At present, AI is becoming a need for daily life and organizational procedures as technology has taken great dives in empowering AI advancement. AI contributes to smart cities’ decision making because smart decision-making utilizes a systematic and organized approach to collect data and applies rational decision-making systems rather than using hit and miss, instinct, or generalizing from overall experience.

“Smart cities” is a multidimensional notion and has been defined differently by numerous scholars. However, the compulsory prerequisite to being a smart city is to attain sustainable social, environmental, and economic development and improve the living standards of society by utilizing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and AI. The technological aspect of a smart city in the decision-making process can be defined as “a technologically interconnected city” or the use of artificial intelligence with big data to accomplish the intelligence and efficiency in managing the city’s resource. A study about smart decision-making in smart cities using big data introduced a three-layer framework characterizing a smart city as an “instrumented, interconnected, and intelligence”.

The past few years have seen rapid growth in urbanization. According to the economic and social affairs body of the United States, approximately 55 percent of the total population in the world live in urban cities. This number is expected to increase to 68% by 2050 (Allam & Dhunny, 2019). The rapid increase in urban population is expected to exert pressure on sustainable environment initiatives leading to higher demand from the large population. To avoid such pressure, there is a need of coming up with smart cities. According to scholars, smart cities will reduce the environmental pressure caused by the increased urban population by 30% (Allam & Dhunny, 2019). A smart city is described as an urban area that depends on information technology to improve its quality of life, grow its economy and implement government policies (Allam & Dhunny, 2019).

Past studies have indicated that there exist three layers that are important for the functionality of a smart city.

· The technological base of a smart city entails sensor-equipped devices and smart digital phones that help in communication (Zhang et al., 2021).

· There are computers that are used in the digital processing of data to deliver favorable solutions (Zhang et al., 2021).

· The whole population directly interacts with these technologies to provide data and analyze outcomes (Zhang et al., 2021).

The current world revolves around technology. Therefore, there is a need of coming up with smart cities that will help in controlling the growing urban population (Zhang et al., 2021). This paper will discuss the use of artificial intelligence in smart cities and its impact on development.

2. Statement of the problem

The rapid changes in the world have led to the use of modern technology in technically all fields. As time goes by, the urban population keeps growing. Most of the countries have experienced a huge migration from rural to urban centers. The post-pandemic period has seen people move to urban areas for job opportunities and good living standards. However, as people move to these urban centers, there is no technology that has been used to ensure quality living standards in these cities. As people have currently embraced the use of modern technology to convert urban towns into smart cities, it is important to have a system that governs these smart cities.

For the efficient functioning of smart cities, the processing of big quantities of data is required. Big data has been described as a large data set that is processed at a very fast speed by the use of algorithms through the use of different sources of data. To process such a large amount of data in smart cities, there is a need for use of artificial intelligence. Past studies have discussed the development of smart cities. There exists a gap in what technology is used to process data in these smart cities. Therefore, this paper will discuss the impacts of artificial intelligence on smart cities.

3. Literature Review

The use of artificial intelligence and processing of big data are interlinked. Artificial intelligence is useful in sifting through large data volumes to produce the desired results (Rjab & Mellouli, 2018). In the past, the use of technology was limited. Data analysis and collection did not entail the use of artificial intelligence. Instead, all processes were manual thus producing inaccurate results. Artificial intelligence uses non-human systems that imitate human behavior (Rjab & Mellouli, 2018). The outcome of the process is determined by whether the artificial intelligence is supervised or unsupervised. The use of artificial intelligence has led to cost-effective solutions to smart cities.

Although the use of artificial intelligence has received backlash from the public domain, there has been an increased use of AI in private firms. Past research has indicated the impact of artificial intelli8gence in decision making. The South Korean government recently used artificial intelligence in the fight against COVID-19 (Ben Rjab & Mellouli, 2019). This was through data collection, educating the citizens, and implementation of safety protocols through artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence has become a great concern in smart cities as they face challenges in sustainability, safety, and planning decisions. When urban areas face such challenges, they embrace the use of artificial intelligence as a means of transforming to smart cities (Ben Rjab & Mellouli, 2019). The transition from an urban city to a smart city is facilitated by strategies from urban politicians. Artificial intelligence through different databases and dashboards regulates the decision-making process to ensure that smart cities grow and remain productive.

Artificial Intelligence in smart cities and Decision Making

The use of artificial intelligence in different sectors of the economy has proved to be successful. Past research has shown that artificial intelligence can successfully diagnose diseases, suggest treatment procedures as well as curb spread of the disease (Zhang et al., 2021). The use of AI can be expanded to technical infrastructure, weather forecasting and general daily activities. Smart city are built in a complex manner with sophisticated technologies to govern them (Zhang et al., 2021). While most scholars focus on defining the livelihood of people in smart cities, there is loess study conducted on the private and public organizations’ work on improving living standards. This study focuses on the Caragliu concept of smart cities. According to the concept, cities are made smart when their investments are made social and the human capital is converted to contribute to long-term development projects (Allam & Dhunny, 2019). All this is in a bid to promote the quality of life and manage resources.

As cities become smart through the installation of sensors, use of smartphones and computers, there is a need to embrace the use of artificial intelligence. The current digital ideas in use if technology is linked to the use of artificial intelligence enabling real-time data thus allowing cities to grow, adapt to changes and diversify their environments (Allam & Dhunny, 2019). Artificial intelligence will help cities develop good decision-making processes thus helping in the socio-economic execution of policies.

Potential use of artificial intelligence in Smart Cities

Artificial intelligence can be used in smart cities in different sectors such as;

· Public transit.

· Public safety programs.

· Power grids.

· Building automation systems.

4. Project Objectives

· To determine the use of artificial intelligence in smart cities.

· To understand the impact of the use of artificial intelligence in smart cities for Smart Decision-Making.

5. Target Population (Sampling Technique and Sample Size)

The study below targets economies in Asia specifically Saudi Arabia. The sampling technique is used is the use of data from different sample groups to ensure effective comparison of data. The decision for choosing Saudi Arabia as the basis for the study was made in accordance with past studies on the topic. There is no researcher who has made a research on the use of AI in Saudi Arabia.

6. Data Collection Approach

Once the consent for the survey has been given to the respondents, a questionnaire will be sent to them via their personal email addresses. The questionnaire will consist of open-ended and closed questions that will need a response. The first part of the questionnaire entails a closed-end section that respondents will respond with a yes or no. the second phase is a section on social innovations, the use of modern technology, and its impact on living standards. The third section has questions on artificial intelligence, proposed changes in the smart cities’ development, and the impact artificial intelligence ought to bring.

7. Data Analysis

The data collected from the survey will be analyzed through the statistical program SPSS version 21. The analytical methods that will be used include correlation, multiple regression, path analysis, and factor analysis.

8. Potential Scope of the Project

The findings from this project will be important in future data analysis on the use of artificial intelligence in smart cities. The information in the study can be used by future scholars who wish to further the study in the impact of AI in smart cities. This study can also be used by the administration of different cities in their decision-making process on the adoption of the use of artificial intelligence in their cities.