思想领袖
建设人民第一，AI力量城市
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在整个历史中，新技术引发了人们的恐惧，这些恐惧往往隐蔽在对社会的威胁问题上。 现在轮到大赦国际了。 虽然这些关切是有道理的，值得解决，但历史也告诉我们一个更广泛的真相：技术变革虽然会造成干扰，但也释放了巨大的机会。 这是目前在世界各地城市中出现的故事。
为了了解城市如何利用AI，并利用它为公益服务，一家主要的全球研究公司 " ThoughtLab " 与政府、工商界和学术界的城市领导人合作，对214个城市的525名官员进行了基准调查。 此外，还分析了212份已公布的城市AI计划，并采访了50多名城市专家，涉及每个地区和发展水平的331个城市。 我们发现的是真正的势头：城市领导人认为AI不仅仅是一个效率工具，而是使政府更加而不是更少的人性化的方法。
首先是将各部门的数据联系起来，这样，城市就能够以协调行动取代零散、被动的进程。 居民不再需要导航多个断开的系统来寻求帮助，公共雇员从日常任务中解放出来，专注于复杂的人类问题。 对于北卡罗来纳州凯里市的CIO尼科尔·考夫林(Nicole Coughlin)来说，AI提供了一个“从根本上重新考虑政府如何运作”的机会。 城市领导人同意机会规模：近三分之二(64%)将AI视为他们城市的主要竞争驱动力，60%期望它能提供更个性化，无摩擦的服务，超过一半的目标是将人置于他们的AI战略的中心。
将居民放在首位
这种“以人为本”的AI转变在七个城市领域已经显现出来，城市正在利用AI，包括政府管理、安全和安保、数字和有形基础设施、能源和环境、运输和流动、卫生和教育以及经济和工业。 收养最深处是经营城市的业务最扎实的地方，而成功最薄的地方则取决于复杂的协调、专门数据和以公平为中心的设计。
在安全及抗御力方面，AI的采用最为普遍，首尔正在试制一个AI聊天机，在政府管理中，檀香山的CivCheck工具将人工智能辅助计划审查周期缩短了58%，平均可节省超过40天的许可申请人。 Gold Coast使用预测管维护来在漏水成为代价高昂的故障前捕捉漏水，纽约的中转当局在中断服务前使用预测管维护来修复巴士故障。
即使在卫生和教育等收养滞后的地区，城市也正在设法提供有形的公共价值和利益。 例如，赫尔辛基的Hester AI帮助居民找到在线保健和社会服务指导，确保社会上最弱势者获得支持。
结构性障碍
但从第一人工智能中获取价值并不容易。 10个城市中有8个将长期成本、预算优先事项相互竞争、人工智能技能和人才有限以及难以证明ROI是主要障碍。 然而，对许多人来说，更大的障碍是公众不信任，68%的城市认为这是最大的挑战之一，反映了公众对监视、非人化服务、偏见和失控的关切。
成功的城市直接解决这些问题，把它们视为治理问题而不是沟通问题。 这意味着披露使用AI的地方，如阿姆斯特丹和赫尔辛基的公共算法登记册；让人类对影响大的决定负责，如西雅图对基因化AI输出的要求；通过设计保护隐私，如Raleigh的交通系统在操作时不识别个人。 至关重要的是，这意味着设计包容、明确解释好处和直接打击错误信息，纽约市为此为22个社区组织提供资金，以提供人工智能扫盲教育。
“领导者”
这些例子显示了当城市成为人类第一AI “领头人 ” — — 我们四个阶段AI成熟模型中最先进的一类 — — 时，可能发生什么情况，指城市在数据、治理和信任的坚实基础上，我们确定了五大洲的38个这样的领导人，将他们分开的不是技术优势，而是以人为本的心态。 它们首先确定居民需求，建立与人的首要成果相联系的有条理的长期愿景，从一开始就将治理列为优先事项，并将人而非技术视为真正的制约因素。 92%的领袖对员工进行道德AI培训，97%的领袖确定员工在需求之前需要的技能。 领导者不独行其事：95%的人在公共和私营部门建立广泛的伙伴生态系统。
这种做法的回报是明确的。 领导人看到AI投资的平均比价为99%，而其他城市则为42%，并且加快了11个月的投资。 它们报告社会公平福利的可能性是报告的近三倍，建立公众信任的可能性是的1.8倍。
然而，成为首当其冲、由AI掌权的领导人不可能一跃而行。 它需要有条理的规划，并以明确的衡量标准、护栏和责任为基础。 我们的研究揭示了城市可以采取9个步骤成为AI的领导者：
- 评估你的城市在AI旅程中的位置
- 确定以成果为主导的大赦国际愿景
- 建立负责任的领导和治理
- 从高价值的城市挑战开始
- 及早解决公民关切的问题
- 与人一起设计，而不是仅仅为他们设计
- 为规模建设共同基础
- 为劳动力配备人工智能技能和工具
- 衡量和宣传全程的公共价值
我们的研究指出了城市的光明未来。 他们不仅已经利用大赦国际更好地满足居民需求，实施必要的保障措施，以巩固公众信任、消除错误信息、减少不平等和尽量减少风险，而且正在为今后的成功奠定基础。 在未来十年中带头的城市并不一定是预算最多或技术最先进的城市。 他们将管理风险，把信任放在优先地位，并将人置于他们所做的每一项决定的中心。
这篇文章借鉴了由ThinkLab与Dell Technologies、NVIDIA、Microsoft、FedEx、FTI咨询公司、GM、Intel和Itron合作进行的一项全球研究。 详情请洽方案主任Lou Celi at louceli@thewtlabgroup.com。
本文由 AI图鉴自动抓取并翻译，版权归原作者所有；如需查看原文请点下方链接。
Thought Leaders
Building a People-First, AI-Powered City
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Throughout history, new technologies have triggered people’s fears, often arriving cloaked in controversy around the threat to society. Now it is AI’s turn. While the concerns are justified and deserve to be addressed, history also tells us a broader truth: while technological change can cause disruption, it also unlocks enormous opportunity. This is the story now unfolding in cities around the world.
To understand how cities are using AI and leveraging it for the public good, ThoughtLab, a leading global research firm, partnered with urban leaders from government, business and academia on a benchmarking survey of 525 officials across 214 cities. This was supplemented by an analysis of 212 published city AI plans, and interviews with more than 50 urban experts, covering 331 municipalities across every region and level of development. What we found is real momentum: city leaders see AI not just as an efficiency tool, but as a way to make government more, not less, human.
That starts with linking data across departments, so cities can replace fragmented, reactive processes with coordinated action. Residents no longer need to navigate multiple disconnected systems to get help, and public employees are freed from routine tasks to focus on complex human problems. For Nicole Coughlin, CIO of Cary, North Carolina, AI offers the opportunity to “fundamentally rethink how government works.” City leaders agree on the scale of the opportunity: nearly two-thirds (64%) see AI as a key competitive driver for their city, 60% expect it to deliver more personalized, frictionless services, and over half aim to put people at the center of their AI strategy.
Putting Residents First
This “people-first” AI shift is already visible across the seven urban domains where cities are leveraging AI, including government administration; safety and security; digital and physical infrastructure; energy and the environment; transport and mobility; health and education; and economy and industry. Adoption runs deepest where the business of running a city is most established, and thinnest where success depends on complex coordination, specialized data and equity-centered design.
When it comes to safety and resilience, the area where AI adoption is most widespread, Seoul is piloting an AI chatbot that gathers details on emergency calls by voice and flags the most urgent for operators. In government administration, Honolulu’s CivCheck tool has cut AI-assisted plan-review cycles by 58%, saving permit applicants more than 40 days on average. Gold Coast uses predictive pipe maintenance to catch leaks before they become costly failures, and New York’s transit authority applies predictive maintenance to fix bus faults before they disrupt service.
Even in areas where adoption lags, such as health and education, cities are finding ways to deliver tangible public value and benefits. Helsinki’s Hester AI, for instance, helps residents find online health and social-service guidance, ensuring support reaches the most vulnerable in society.
Structural Barriers
But capturing value from people-first AI is not easy. Eight in ten cities cite long-term costs, competing budget priorities, limited AI skills and talent, and difficulty justifying ROI as major hurdles. The bigger barrier for many, however, is public distrust, cited by 68% of cities as among their biggest challenges, reflecting public concerns about surveillance, dehumanized services, bias and loss of control.
Successful cities tackle these concerns head-on, treating them as a governance issue rather than a communications problem. That means disclosing where AI is used, as Amsterdam and Helsinki do with public algorithm registers; keeping humans accountable for high-impact decisions, as Seattle requires for generative AI outputs; and protecting privacy by design, as Raleigh’s traffic system does by operating without identifying individuals. Crucially, it means designing for inclusion, explaining benefits clearly and countering misinformation directly, as New York City does by funding 22 community organizations to deliver AI literacy education.
Becoming a True AI “Leader”
These examples show what is possible when cities become people-first AI “Leaders” – the most advanced category of our four-stage AI maturity model – referring to cities that scale AI broadly on strong foundations of data, governance and trust. We identified 38 such Leaders across five continents, and what sets them apart is not technological superiority, but a human-centric mindset. They identify resident needs first, build a structured, long-term vision tied to people-first outcomes, prioritize governance from the outset, and treat people, not technology, as the real constraint. Ninety-two percent of Leaders train staff on ethical AI, and 97% identify the skills their workforce will need before they need them. Leaders do not go it alone: 95% build a broad partner ecosystem from across the public and private sectors.
The payoff from this approach is clear. Leaders see a 99% average ROI on AI investment, compared with 42% for other cities, and recoup that investment 11 months faster. They are nearly three times more likely to report social equity benefits and 1.8 times more likely to build public trust.
Becoming a people-first, AI-powered Leader, however, cannot be achieved in a single leap. It requires structured planning, anchored by clear metrics, guardrails and responsibilities. Our research revealed nine steps that cities can take to become an AI leader:
- Assess where your city stands in its AI journey
- Set an outcome-led AI vision
- Build accountable leadership and governance
- Start with high-value urban challenges
- Address citizens’ concerns early
- Design with people rather than simply for them
- Build the shared foundations for scale
- Equip the workforce with AI skills and tools
- Measure and communicate public value throughout the journey
Our research points to a bright future for cities. Not only are they already leveraging AI to better meet resident needs, by implementing the safeguards needed to shore up public trust, counter misinformation, reduce inequality and minimise risk, they are laying the groundwork for future success. The cities that take the lead over the coming decade will not necessarily be the ones with the biggest budgets or the most sophisticated technology. They will be the ones that manage risk, prioritize trust, and put people at the center of every decision they make.
This article draws on Building a People-First, AI-Powered City, a global study conducted by ThoughtLab in collaboration with Dell Technologies, NVIDIA, Microsoft, FedEx, FTI Consulting, GM, Intel, and Itron. For further information, please contact Program Director Lou Celi at louceli@thoughtlabgroup.com.
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