The City of Montreal is set to revolutionize its construction sites by incorporating artificial intelligence into its operations. This initiative will be spearheaded by the opening of the Downtown Laboratory, an innovation hub situated in the dynamic Ville-Marie borough. City councillor Alexandre Teodoresco, who also serves as an executive committee member overseeing AI, innovation, and performance, emphasized the importance of precise problem statements and focused scopes in utilizing innovative methods within the laboratory.
This groundbreaking move is part of Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada’s commitment to fulfilling 10 key actions within the initial 100 days of her administration. Mayor Ferrada highlighted the need for AI to serve humanity effectively, ensuring it enhances services rather than the other way around.
The Downtown Laboratory will concentrate on developing prototypes and testing practical solutions to tackle urban challenges faced by Montreal residents, especially in the realms of mobility and construction site management. The city has outlined four primary objectives for construction sites: integrating planning and simulations, enhancing accessibility and safety, implementing real-time monitoring, and optimizing site design. Montreal aims to introduce digital twins – virtual replicas of physical systems – to achieve these objectives effectively.
In response to inquiries about how AI can help address potholes, Mayor Martinez Ferrada illustrated a scenario involving citizens reporting potholes via the city’s 311 phone line. She explained that AI could streamline and map data from multiple reports to create a comprehensive overview of the city’s pothole locations, a system that is currently lacking.
Montreal will collaborate with a dedicated advisory committee on AI comprising experts from the fields of technology, research, and public policy to ensure the successful integration of artificial intelligence across construction sites and beyond.
