This article was published by The Energy Mix on Feb. 10, 2025.
By Shauna Sylvester
It’s 4 AM on Sunday morning. I’m on the 6th floor of a hotel in the heart of the Latin Quarter in Paris, managing my jet lag by contemplating the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for cities. Around me are the sounds of sirens and partiers whose shouts and hollers sometimes shift to a rising chorus of a song I don’t recognize.
This week, Paris is hosting the AI Summit for Humanity, a gathering of world leaders focused on the responsible development and deployment of artificial intelligence. There are hundreds of side meetings and I’m here with my Saskatchewan-based colleague Mairin Loewen to learn more about AI and what it could mean for cities. We are especially interested in how AI could impact the energy needs of cities.
Part of my learning is coming to grips with AI technologies which are evolving at breakneck speed. I’m married to a computer engineer so I know a little. I use ChatGPT regularly and I’ve appreciated DeepSeek’s capacity to help me make sense of research questions.
But admittedly, when I read that Elon Musk’s coders are implementing new AI systems on U.S. Treasury computers to find efficiencies, I get extremely nervous. Suddenly 2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL9000 comes to mind. “Open the pod bay doors, HAL.” “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that!”
So, it is with some trepidation that I enter this world. I’m both excited about the awesome power AI can offer cities if directed wisely, and scared about the potential destruction it can cause when unchecked.
My first step in this discovery is to better understand the recent developments in AI. It’s an expanding and complex field, so admittedly I probed DeepSeek and Chat GPT to better understand its evolution. Here are the five most important recent developments these AI platforms highlighted:
1. Tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the recently-released Chinese platform DeepSeek, and DALL·E have revolutionized how we interact with AI. ChatGPT and DeepSeek generate human-like text for tasks like writing and coding, while DALL·E creates images from text descriptions. These platforms are used in education, customer service, and creative industries.
2. DeepMind’s AlphaFold is a breakthrough platform for AI in health care. It predicts protein structures which can accelerate medical research and drug discoveries. Similarly, AI-powered diagnostic tools, like those from PathAI, are improving disease detection and treatment accuracy.
3. Microsoft’s Planetary Computer uses AI to analyze environmental data, helping scientists track deforestation, predict weather patterns, optimize renewable energy systems, and address climate change.
4. MidJourney and Stable Diffusion enable users to generate artwork from text prompts, and in music, OpenAI’s Jukebox creates original compositions, opening new avenues for creative expression for artists and creators.
5. While not a technology, initiatives like the EU AI Act and Google’s AI Principles are shaping how AI is developed and used. These frameworks address the ethics and application of AI and aim to align it with values of transparency and accessibility.
Which brings me back to Paris.
As much as AI might scare us and threaten our livelihoods, it is here and permeating every aspect of our lives. This is why the French government has taken a leadership role in gathering leaders from across sectors to consider AI’s impact, ethics, and governance. It is also why I find myself in a hotel in the Latin Quarter reflecting on the transformative power of AI while contemplating serious questions that cities need to consider as they adopt, implement, and govern it.
Shauna Sylvester is the Founder and Lead Convenor of Urban Climate Leadership, a project of MakeWay that works with cities to support their efforts to create healthy, safe, and resilient communities. Shauna will be sharing her learnings live from Paris, especially as they relate to AI, cities, and energy.
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