Robotics and automation in the city: a research agenda

Macrorie, Rachel; Marvin, Simon; While, Aidan

doi:10.1080/02723638.2019.1698868

Cited by 104 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…It also shies away from fully interrogating the ways in which these relations are altering meanings of the concept of human intelligence or cognition (Lynch and Del Casino ). That is why a turn to robotics—the spaces of algorithmic logic (Crampton ; Crampton and Miller ), the capacity of “the cloud” to manage geopolitical worlds (Amoore ), the impact automation may have on work and life (Richardson and Bissell ; also see Richardson ), and more generally the meaning of robots and robotic systems within the confines of critical urban studies in human geography (Macrorie et al ) and subfields, such as political ecology (e.g. Robbins ), which has only just begun to engage with robots and robotics—is so important.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Life of Robots: The Politics of Algorithms, Governance, and Sovereignty

et al. 2020

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This symposium aims to broaden the way scholars theorise and empirically treat the increasingly complex relationships between robots and social life, especially in the context of our historically anthropocentric human geographies. The authors of this symposium engage a range of diverse epistemological, ontological, and methodological commitments, but all in some way address the power dynamics and shifting political economies involved in human–robotic interactions as well as possibilities for resisting and overcoming particular forms of domination and oppression. At the same time, the papers present new avenues for conceptualising the rise of robots and robotics and the everyday socio‐spatial relations of contemporary algorithmic life. In a rapidly evolving present and future, where life is increasingly managed in relation to algorithmic imaginaries and automated fantasies, these papers demonstrate the potential for geographers to make significant interventions and contributions to investigate the limits, contradictions, and messy contingencies of socio‐technical assemblages, to trace the shifting spatialities and temporalities of the geographies of algorithmic governance, and to envision radical democratic, post‐capitalist, emancipatory alternatives. These futures are unlikely to be “robot free”, so the question remains how will we build a future set of geographies that acknowledges this reality while also claiming space for the diverse and rich expansion of all forms of life, both human and non‐human?

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Life of Robots: The Politics of Algorithms, Governance, and Sovereignty

et al. 2020

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“…It can also be a nanobot almost invisible to the naked eye or an android almost indistinguishable from a person. Robots can be found in retail, customer service, hospitality, education, security and in the maintenance of urban infrastructure (Tiddi et al, 2019;Macrorie et al, 2020). Like autonomous cars, robots are equipped with sensors which make them capable of perceiving the built environment and acquiring information about what is around them.…”

Section: Urban Artificial Intelligencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Building upon the above premise, the aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the autonomous city, in empirical and theoretical terms. As noted by several scholars, to date there is little or no knowledge of the many ways through which AI is impacting on the development of smart-city initiatives (Del Casino V. J. Jr., 2016;Zakharenko, 2016;Ingrand and Ghallab, 2017;Milakis et al, 2017;Bissell, 2018;Salehi and Burgueño, 2018;Macrorie et al, 2020;Yigitcanlar et al, 2020). This study captures the evolution of smart urbanism in the era of artificial intelligence.…”

Section: Introduction: Ai Enters the Citymentioning

confidence: 98%

Urban Artificial Intelligence: From Automation to Autonomy in the Smart City

Cugurullo

2020

Front. Sustain. Cities

166

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Technological innovation is constantly reshaping the materiality and mechanics of smart-city initiatives. Recently, innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) in the shape of self-driving cars, robots and city brains, has been pushing the so-called smart city to morph into an autonomous urban creature which is largely unknown. In this emerging strand of smart urbanism, artificially intelligent entities are taking the management of urban services as well as urban governance out of the hands of humans, operating the city in an autonomous manner. This paper explores, in theory and practice, how the development of AI intersects with the development of the city. The contribution of the paper is threefold. First, the paper advances a theoretical framework to understand AI specifically in urban contexts. It develops the concept of urban artificial intelligence, capturing the main manifestations of AI in cities. Second, the paper examines the case of Masdar City, an Emirati urban experiment, to show how the genesis of urban artificial intelligences is part of a long-standing process of technological development and a politico-economic agenda which together are enabling the transition from automation to autonomy. Third, it proposes a research agenda to investigate what the paper terms the autonomous city.

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“…Technology and infrastructure augment and alter human functioning and networks. Urban researchers are increasingly interested in the series of urban changes being wrought by robotics and automation (Del Casino, 2016;Kovacic, 2018;Macrorie et al, 2019;Marvin et al, 2018b;Nagenborg, 2018). Potentially, the most far-reaching impact of robotics on urban lives will be the transformation of work and the need for flanking mechanisms to account for mass unemployment, underemployment and social divisions (Davenport and Kirby, 2016).…”

Section: Future Cities and Urban Roboticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban robotic experimentation: San Francisco, Tokyo and Dubai

2020

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Advances in robotics, artificial intelligence and automation have the potential to transform cities and urban social life. However, robotic restructuring of the city is complicated and contested. Technology is still evolving, robotic infrastructure is expensive and there are technical, trust and safety challenges in bringing robots into dynamic urban environments alongside humans. This article examines the nascent field of ‘urban robotics’ in three emblematic yet diverse national-urban contexts that are leading centres for urban robotic experimentation. Focusing on the experimental application of autonomous social robots, the article explores: (i) the rationale for urban robotic experiments and the interests involved, and (ii) the challenges and outcomes of creating meaningful urban spaces for robotic experimentation. The article makes a distinctive contribution to urban research by illuminating a potentially far-reaching but under-researched area of urban policy. It provides a conceptual framework for mapping and understanding the highly contingent, spatially uneven and socially selective processes of robotic urban experimentation.

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Robotics and automation in the city: a research agenda

Cited by 104 publications

References 60 publications

The Social Life of Robots: The Politics of Algorithms, Governance, and Sovereignty

The Social Life of Robots: The Politics of Algorithms, Governance, and Sovereignty

Urban Artificial Intelligence: From Automation to Autonomy in the Smart City

Urban robotic experimentation: San Francisco, Tokyo and Dubai

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