329R_Artificial intelligence and the local government: A five-decade scientometric analysis on the evolution, state-of-the-art, and emerging trends (research summary)

Our summary today works with the article titled Artificial intelligence and the local government: A five-decade scientometric analysis on the evolution, state-of-the-art, and emerging trends from 2024, by Tan Yigitcanlar, Sajani Senadheera, Raveena Marasinghe, Simon Elias Bibri, Thomas Sanchez, Federico Cugurullo, and Renee Sieber, published in the Cities journal.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Thomas Sanchez in episode 330 talking about urban and technological evolution.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how AI is utilised in urban governance. This article investigates the evolution, current state and emerging trends of AI in local governments across 5 decades.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: In recent years, the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has significantly impacted various sectors, including public governance at the local level. However, there exists a limited understanding of the overarching narrative surrounding the adoption of AI in local governments and its future. Therefore, this study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution, current state-of-the-art, and emerging trends in the adoption of AI in local government. A comprehensive scientometric analysis was conducted on a dataset comprising 7112 relevant literature records retrieved from the Scopus database in October 2023, spanning over the last five decades. The study findings revealed the following key insights: (a) exponential technological advancements over the last decades ushered in an era of AI adoption by local governments; (b) the primary purposes of AI adoption in local governments include decision support, automation, prediction, and service delivery; (c) the main areas of AI adoption in local governments encompass planning, analytics, security, surveillance, energy, and modelling; and (d) under-researched but critical research areas include ethics of and public participation in AI adoption in local governments. This study informs research, policy, and practice by offering a comprehensive understanding of the literature on AI applications in local governments, providing valuable insights for stakeholders and decision-makers.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.259R - Lessons from nine urban areas using data to drive local sustainable development
• No.304 - Interview with Nick Bray about agentic AIs

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠th⁠i⁠s link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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