Words: Max Moriarty (He/Him)
If you’re not moving forwards, then you’re going backwards. That is the motto for today’s fast-paced technology-driven society, where the hunger for innovation and efficiency constantly needs to be satiated. This unrelenting desire for progress is the driving force behind Glasgow City Council’s decision to invest £2.5 million into a 250-desk office space in Finnieston, in partnership with the Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC). With the aim to make Glasgow a key hub for innovation and invention, this choice specifically focuses on AI and robotics.
However, before you fear this is another overly ambitious pipedream by the council, AI is already being utilised throughout the city to analyse traffic patterns and how road users behave. This comes through a partnership with VivaCity, who are a London-based tech firm focused on AI and traffic management. The technology is currently being used for 2 junctions, Byres Road and Dumbarton Road, aiming to reduce bus journey times and the time spent waiting at traffic lights by pedestrians. This is done by utilising sensors to detect the number of people waiting at each crossing point, and providing priority to the larger groups. It also considers when buses are approaching and attempts to reduce their waiting time at traffic lights by giving them priority.
As you can imagine, the potential that this has to improve traffic flow throughout Glasgow is enormous and, if used correctly, could mitigate the standstills that often occur during rush hour. One key area which it could be used for is allowing vehicles to enter and exit the M8 quicker during busy times, by prioritising lanes that lead towards the motorway with longer green lights and shorter stops at traffic lights. This would result in cars being able to enter and exit the city faster, creating a shorter rush hour and a general improvement in journey times. However, this is not the only usage, as it could also be repurposed to prioritise other road users at different times, with buses and bikes gaining priority near schools at the beginning and end of school days.
Hopefully you can now see how this use of AI is linked to the STAC office centre, which was built to help encourage young people to innovate and invent new technologies to improve Glasgow. Alongside the new building, there are also £150,000 grants available for Scottish technology startups, especially ones which focus on robotics. Although it is not STAC’S primary focus, robotics definitely can improve traffic flow – maybe more so than AI, especially when you involve driverless cars. Once thought of as gimmicky sci-fi toys of the future, driverless cars are now very much real and have already been used and implemented in the USA, in cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles. In a study done by the University of Tennessee, it was found that when even as little as 5% of cars were controlled by robots and driverless, traffic jams were effectively eliminated. It improves when 60% of cars are driverless, as traffic efficiency would be upgraded so that traffic lights would no longer be required. As you can imagine, if that number rose to near 100%, traffic would rapidly become a thought of the past.
Of course, whenever AI and robotics is mentioned, thoughts often turn to The Terminator and the conflict between man and machine. There is also the ethical issue of privacy and whether a person’s movements should always be tracked, even if it is for the greater good. Whilst the first issue of our new driverless cars taking over the world is less of a concern, the second problem about a person’s right to privacy is a very real and controversial issue. Think back to when Facebook was called out for selling personal information and the controversy that caused. Now imagine if the government had the ability to track your every movement throughout Glasgow using cameras, sensors, and vehicle tracking. It’s an unsettling thought in all honesty, and a requirement would have to be created for strictly monitored encryption for the usage of this data. Ultimately, it would fall on the population to decide if their privacy was more important than an efficient city with emptier roads.
In summary, the new investments in Glasgow’s future are approved based on the potential these applications have, rather than the current impact they can make. Despite AI currently being used to improve traffic flow, there is still a long time before we achieve a future with no rush hour, and less rigid structures for traffic. Eventually, there will be the issue of personal privacy and how data is protected and monitored, which is a severe ethical concern. Despite this, it is exciting to see that Glasgow wants to move forwards not backwards, even if it does mean T-2000 could be your next Uber driver.
https://smartcitiesconnect.org/glasgow-partners-with-vivacity-to-enhance-traffic-flow-with-ai
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/new-partnership-aims-turn-glasgow-31796029
This article is fascinating! I’m excited to see how AI and robotics can improve traffic in the future.