Curious Use of AI by Local Authorities

[Cubist]

Between dodging raindrops earlier I spotted this curious report below from the BBC.

Cambridgeshire County Council using AI to detect potholes

Pothole reports in Cambridgeshire have risen by 300%, the local authority says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Cannot make up my mind what to be outraged about concerning the reports content. Is my ire due to the seemingly wasteful expenditure on AI technology by the Councils Roads Maintenance and ITC teams or is it the apparent conclusion of the management teams that their Road Maintenance Team Members cannot be relied upon to distinguish a hole in the ground????

 

[a twig]

It’s basically an efficiency / job reduction measure - traditionally inspection vehicles had one person driving and one person recording, over the last few years most councils have gone to systems like this as it means you just need the driver.

The technology has been around for years using basic video processing / edge detection. I suspect the companies have just added some machine learning to it to be able to call it AI.

National Highways were evaluating this stuff for DfT approval back in 2017-18 so it’s hardly revolutionary.

 

[Cubist]

Well, yes, but I much prefer the mental imagery that provoked the memory of Bernard.