Artificial Intelligence and Urban Planning: What Planners Need to Know Now

American Planning Association

You might not realize it, but artificial intelligence, or AI, already affects your life in countless ways. Your favorite wayfinding app? It’s powered by AI. The product recommendations you get on that e-commerce site you visit regularly? That’s AI, too. The music, movie, and TV suggestions you see on streaming platforms; the notifications from your bank alerting you to possible fraudulent activity; the wearable technology giving you health information — they’re all driven by systems that use AI. And the AI market is only expected to grow — 20 percent annually over the next few years, in fact.

In this conversation, led by APA’s research director Petra Hurtado, AICP, AI experts Neda Madi and Tom Sanchez discuss why planners need to pay attention to this technology (hint: it's already being used in many planning contexts, too). They talk in-depth about the potential impacts — positive and negative — as well as how planners can mitigate the negative ones. Their exchange is an eye-opening and ultimately inspiring dialogue for those who care about their communities.

Neda Madi is the City Infrastructure Analytics director of the Network Dynamics Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Tom Sanchez is professor of Urban Affairs and Planning at Virginia Tech.

This podcast was produced in partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Episode URL: https://planning.org/podcast/artificial-intelligence-and-urban-planning-what-planners-need-to-know-now/