Urban AI Conversations - Summer Edition

🌇 This summer, URBAN AI invites you to a special edition of the Urban AI Conversations, a series of free webinars that explore the transformative potential of urban artificial intelligence with international experts.

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📅 Program

Towards AI-Informed Cultural Policy: Insights from Bogotá

▶ July 16 – 4pm CET / 10am ET

The City of Bogotá has recently launched pioneering projects that integrate AI into cultural policymaking. From using geospatial and generative AI tools to prioritize intervention areas, to deploying natural language processing to analyze citizen input, Bogotá is breaking new ground. This session will explore how AI is being used to foster a more inclusive, evidence-based, and participatory cultural policy, with Natalia Sefair López, Advisor for Internationalization and Cooperation at the Secretariat of Culture, Recreation, and Sports of Bogotá and Diego Fernando Maldonado Castellanos, Director of the Observatory of Culture and Cultural Knowledge Management at the Secretariat of Culture, Recreation, and Sports of Bogotá.

New York City: The Applied AI Capital of the World

▶ July 23 – 4pm CET / 10am ET

In January 2025, NYCEDC released New York City’s Artificial Intelligence Advantage, a landmark report and action plan positioning the city as a global leader in applied AI. This Urban AI Conversation will delve into the report’s insights and strategic priorities with Cecilia Kushner, Chief Strategy Officer at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, and examine how AI is being leveraged to drive economic growth and technological transformation.

Debating AI in Nantes: Participatory Governance in Action

▶ July 30 – 4pm CET / 10am ET

In early 2024, Nantes Métropole initiated “Nantes Débat de l’IA,” a wide-ranging public engagement campaign to understand and shape local perceptions of artificial intelligence. Through nearly 100 diverse events—citizen cafés, hackathons, workshops, roundtables—URBAN AI conducted an independent analysis to inform the city's AI policy. In this session, we will explore this groundbreaking participatory process with Marie Bernard, Project Manager at Nantes Métropole, and Juliette Plaire, Coordinator of Nantes Débat de l’IA at Nantes Métropole.

Your Brain on ChatGPT: Implications for Urban Practitioners and Civil Servants

▶ August 6 – 4pm CET / 10am ET

How does the regular use of AI assistants like ChatGPT shape cognitive processes? A recent academic study investigated the accumulation of cognitive debt among users relying on AI for writing tasks. We will discuss the key findings and their implications for public servants and urban professionals with the study’s lead author, Nataliya Kosmyna, Researcher at the MIT Media Lab.

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🏙️ More about URBAN AI

Founded in 2020, URBAN AI is a global and pioneering organization at the forefront of the rapidly evolving field of urban Artificial Intelligence. By uniting a dynamic Academy with a leading Think Tank, URBAN AI has acquired unique expertise at the intersection of AI and cities while conducting cutting-edge research and experimentation in this field. With a network of 200+ global experts and an active ecosystem of 30 partner organizations, URBAN AI has established itself as the key thought leader in Urban AI.

🔍 More About URBAN AI Conversations

URBAN AI Conversations are a series of online webinars that provide a platform for URBAN AI Members to present and discuss topics at the intersection of AI and Cities. These sessions are open to all and free to attend, fostering knowledge sharing and community engagement. All past episodes are available to watch on our YouTube channel.