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At the conference, that looked like regional planning organizations working with nonprofits to understand how extreme heat is felt by pedestrians and how to address those hotspots. Researchers discussed artificial intelligence tools created with neighborhood groups to develop informational tools to help residents access real-time information about their communities.

Join MISI at CitySpace for a special event featuring journalists, filmmakers, photographers, activists and scholars sharing intimate stories of survival, resilience, identity and memory in a time of environmental upheaval.

AI is rapidly reshaping the public sector, but most efforts remain focused on optimizing existing processes rather than reimagining how institutions serve communities. If governments continue to pursue efficiency alone, they risk entrenching the very systems that residents already distrust. Based on two years of research—including more than 40 interviews, pilots in Boston, New York City, and San José, and a scan of national policy trends—we propose an alternative framework for public AI adoption: Adapt, Listen, and Trust (ALT).

We’ve all likely experienced the feeling of strangeness when encountering some AI produced material. An email, a photograph, a news story. On the surface, it appears so real, even really good. But there is something just a little off. We can sense the emptiness beneath the polished veneer.