Today, only a select few hold the power in city-making and an important number of citizens don't participate in this activity. Participation is perceived as a great time investment, it is uninteresting, and people feel that they lack expertise. At the request of the TU Delft research initiative Citizen Voice, we speculated on how AI could be used to increase citizen participation in city planning. The final concept offers a platform that citizens can encounter in their daily life, allowing them to participate even if they have little time. This speculative concept, with its complex ethical implications, is a means to critically reflect on relevant topics such as privacy, the future of human-AI relationships, and what it takes for a design process to be considered participative.

Research through design

We carried out this project with a research through design approach. We went through a series of iterative experiments in which we tested different lo-fi prototypes with the goal of answering a different research question each week. Each prototype allowed us to explore different technologies and interaction methods. The findings of each iteration combined led to the development of the final concept.

Talk2

Talk2 is an AI based conversational tool that gives a voice to objects of the city. Citizens engage in personal conversations with these objects and share their opinions and ideas about the neighbourhood where the object is located. Through these conversations, people deeper understand their surroundings strengthening their bond with the place. To ensure privacy but prevent exclusion of the object’s space, transparent walls partially enclose the object. We used construction sites as an inspiration, but instead of keeping citizens out, we invite them in. By actively listening and incorporating the stories of citizens in their work, urban planners can create more inclusive and responsive cities. They can select an object from a popular spot in the neighbourhood, that aligns with the upcoming city plans and program it to support their work at best.

Bruno the bench

To effectively represent the Talk2 concept, we chose to give voice to a bench that we called Bruno. We researched its identity and personality, looking into details like its tone of voice and kind of language it uses. The result is a friendly and slightly prickly personality that curiously listens to what visitors tell and happily shares personal stories.

Technology

To give Bruno a voice, we built an AI conversational agent using Voiceflow. This allowed us to automate most of the prototype. However, to provide a seamless experience we still had to adopt a Wizard-of-Oz approach and control the agent from the backstage. Around the bench, a system of microphones and speakers connected to the backstage allowed us to create the illusion that the bench was actually speaking.

Bruno at the Dutch Design Week 2023

Bruno the bench was selected to be part of the TU Delft DREAM.DISCOVER.DESIGN. exhibition at the Dutch Design Week 2023. To adapt the project to the context of a big exhibition with thousands of visitors, we reiterated on the concept, removing the transparent walls and improving the complexity of the conversational agent.

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Bruno at the CityClimate meets CreativeCoding festival

On September 2023 Bruno the bench also travelled to Hamburg to be part to the ParticipAIte exhibition at the CCmCC festival. The exhibition included three different design projects that aim at improving different aspects of public participation through the use of AI.