New digital divides in the Algorithmic city: the implications for urban governance

The literature on AI and specifically AI literacy is growing rapidly and demonstrates the role that AI literacy plays in shaping not only how these technologies are understood, including their social and economic impacts, but also citizen’s trust in AI and governance. This literature however has not sufficiently addressed the gaps in AI literacy in society and how these gaps can impact the differential outcomes of AI on diverse populations. Research examining the deployment of AI in cities and communities suggests a series of social benefits but has not sufficiently addressed the differential impacts on social groups. Some scholars suggest that AI serves to equalize disparities and can particularly support marginalized communities. Yet other scholars see these technologies as exacerbating inequalities. Moreover, one of the core concerns when it comes to smart cities and communities is that despite the abundance of data, many marginalized social groups are susceptible to technological invisibility. A second concern arises in relation to citizen’s data once it is collected and how that data will be used. There are many privacy concerns and ethical questions. Objectives: The proposed knowledge synthesis project has two main objectives. First, to review the existing literature published within the past 10 years on AI literacy and social equity, and to identify social impacts of AI in cities on women, gender relations, gender equality and social equity. Second, to develop a spreadsheet with measurement tools of AI literacy scales developed today. Finally, the project will review the efficacy of key AI literacy interventions. The goal of this review on interventions is not only to identify AI literacy interventions that are effective and targeted to specific social groups, but also to highlight gaps in terms of marginalized populations whose AI literacy may be low. This project has several outcomes (1) the knowledge synthesis report; (2) two refereed articles in the Journal of the Association of Information Science and Technology and Journal of Urban Technology; (3) a research dataset on AI literacy measures and scales shared on Borealis (The Canadian Dataverse Repository). We will engage in knowledge mobilization targeted to three audiences librarians and educators; policy makers; and NGOs through (1) two panels (live and recorded for sharing on social media) in collaboration with NGOs such as MediaSmarts and Connected by Data (2) two policy briefs published in collaboration with NGOs such as Cooperative AI, The Data and AI Civil Society Network, and The Global AI Ethics Institute (GAIEI) (3) short videos for social media that summarizes key findings in lay language; (4) two op-eds for news media venues such as The Conversation and American Library Association newsletter (5) five presentations and two stakeholder workshops in UK and Canada to academic institutions, government agencies, public policy research organizations, think-tanks and NGOs via conferences and public and academic library events. The project provides HQP training in skills such as conducting synthesis reviews, creating datasets, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the use of AI tools in research. The findings will also inform academic curricula in engineering, computer science, geography, and urban planning through courses on Ethics and Values in Smart Cities and Communities.