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Artificial Intelligence can play an important role in the development of Smart Cities. This is a part of the vision to transform Thailand’ s economy into an innovation-driven economy, as a part of the Thailand 4.0 Initiative, which includes the creation of 100 Smart Cities within two decades, in order to improve citizens’ quality of life.
This is an ambitious goal, so Thailand is looking for ways to accelerate its drive towards an innovation-driven economy. This is where AI comes in. Since Smart Cities gather a huge amount of data by sensors, cameras etc. AI is key to turning this data into actionable insights to optimise services, enhance productivity and improve quality of life.
A good example of this is traffic congestion, a major problem for many Asian cities, with Thailand topping the list of the most congested countries. “The Asian Development Bank estimates that road congestion costs Asian economies an estimated 2% to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) every year due to lost time and higher transport costs.’ Integrating AI in traffic management systems can be an efficient way for Smart Cities to reduce congestion. An advanced solution for this problem is demonstrated by Alibaba’ s “City Brain’ project in Hangzhou, China. The City Brain uses data from various sources, analysed by an AI hub which regulated traffic signals in over 100 intersections, improving traffic flow and saving time for commuters.
AI has many other applications as well, including customer service, where AI-based facial recognition and behaviour analysis can provide personalised products and services to customers, banking, where facial recognitions ensures the speed and security of ATM withdrawals, and security, for alerting law enforcement personnel and enhancing security management. Thailand has the second highest AI adoption rate in SE Asia, so it is in the right position to utilise this technology to meet its Smart City goals in time for Thailand 4.0.
The original article can be found in Bangkok Post.