“城市大腦”就是下一個(gè)登月計(jì)劃，未來(lái)十年催生的技術(shù)將遠(yuǎn)超今天的想象。”

——阿里巴巴首席架構(gòu)師王堅(jiān)

“城市大腦”可以理解為一座城市的人工智能中樞。其內(nèi)核采用阿里云ET人工智能技術(shù)，可以對(duì)整個(gè)城市進(jìn)行全局實(shí)時(shí)分析，自動(dòng)調(diào)配公共資源，修正城市運(yùn)行中的Bug，最終將進(jìn)化成為能夠治理城市各項(xiàng)“疑難雜癥”的超級(jí)人工智能。阿里巴巴也一直在致力于人類發(fā)展和城市建設(shè)上做努力阿里云ET城市大腦已在全球范圍內(nèi)已有杭州、衢州、烏鎮(zhèn)、蘇州、重慶、澳門、吉隆坡等11個(gè)城市先后落地，并取得了很好的效果。

Alibaba's 'City Brain' is slashing congestion in its hometown

Traffic used to be a frequent headache for residents in Hangzhou, the eastern Chinese city that's home to Alibaba.

對(duì)于中國(guó)東部城市，阿里巴巴的總部所在地——杭州來(lái)說(shuō)，交通擁堵曾是困擾居民的癥結(jié)。

The metropolis of 7 million people once ranked fifth among China's most congested cities, but it has now dropped to 57th on the list.

這座擁有700萬(wàn)人口的省會(huì)城市曾一度上榜中國(guó)最擁堵城市且排名第五，現(xiàn)如今已跌至五十七名。

Alibaba (BABA) says that's because of one of its inventions, dubbed the City Brain, which uses artificial intelligence to gather information across Hangzhou, such as video from intersection cameras and GPS data on the locations of cars and buses.

阿里巴巴方面表示，這一變化的實(shí)現(xiàn)得益于一項(xiàng)被稱為“城市大腦”的發(fā)明。這一平臺(tái)利用人工智能技術(shù)來(lái)搜集整座杭州市的各種交通信息，例如十字路口攝像頭所拍攝的視頻錄像，以及汽車和公交車定位的GPS數(shù)據(jù)。

The platform analyzes the information in real time as it coordinates more than 1,000 road signals around the city with the aim of preventing or easing gridlock.

該平臺(tái)在協(xié)調(diào)全市1000多個(gè)道路信號(hào)的同時(shí)，也在實(shí)時(shí)分析這些數(shù)據(jù)信息，以防止或緩解交通擁堵。

After two years of testing, the system appears to be working. Alibaba says the City Brain has shortened commutes and also helped first responders by enabling fire trucks and ambulances to halve the amount of time it takes to get to the scene of emergencies.

過(guò)長(zhǎng)達(dá)兩年的測(cè)試，這一系統(tǒng)似乎正在發(fā)揮效用。阿里巴巴方表示，“城市大腦”不僅縮短了人們的通勤時(shí)間，也幫助急救人員，使消防車和救護(hù)車到達(dá)事故現(xiàn)場(chǎng)的耗時(shí)大大減半。

Alibaba says its AI-driven "City Brain" project in Hangzhou has improved traffic.

阿里巴巴方表示，其基于人工智能技術(shù)的“城市大腦”項(xiàng)目幫助杭州改善了交通狀況。

Some regular drivers confirm things have improved. Ye Bojie, who works for top ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing, said it once took him 40 minutes to drive 3 kilometers (1.8 miles), but the conditions are "much better now."

一些普通司機(jī)的親身經(jīng)歷也證實(shí)了這一點(diǎn)。就職于知名約車服務(wù)公司“滴滴”的葉伯杰（音譯）就表示，自己以前開3公里（1.8英里）需要耗費(fèi)40分鐘，但現(xiàn)在路況已經(jīng)“好多了”。

"The cities in China probably are facing more challenges than any other city," said Wang Jian, chairman of Alibaba's technology steering committee.

阿里巴巴集團(tuán)技術(shù)委員會(huì)主席王堅(jiān)曾表示：“中國(guó)城市面臨的挑戰(zhàn)已經(jīng)超過(guò)了世界上任何一個(gè)國(guó)家?！?/p>

But with emerging technologies like machine learning, communities are getting the tools to solve problems such as water shortages, he told CNN.

但他也告訴CNN，隨著機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)等新興技術(shù)的出現(xiàn)，社區(qū)正在逐漸獲取諸如解決水資源短缺等問(wèn)題的手段。

"Eventually, everything is going to depend on the computing power, just like we depend on electricity," Wang said.

王堅(jiān)認(rèn)為，“最終一切都將取決于計(jì)算力，這就像我們依賴電力一樣?！?/p>

通過(guò)視頻識(shí)別交通事故、擁堵?tīng)顩r，融合互聯(lián)網(wǎng)數(shù)據(jù)及接警數(shù)據(jù)，即時(shí)全面的對(duì)城市突發(fā)情況進(jìn)行感知。結(jié)合智能車輛調(diào)度技術(shù)，對(duì)警、消、救等各類車輛進(jìn)行聯(lián)合指揮調(diào)度，同時(shí)聯(lián)動(dòng)紅綠燈對(duì)緊急事件特種車輛進(jìn)行優(yōu)先通行控制。

吉隆坡的“杭州之鑒”

Kuala Lumpur is using the same system

Other cities and companies are betting that tech advances can address some of urban life's difficulties. Alibaba's platform is being used in a handful of other Chinese cities and was introduced last year in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.

許多城市和企業(yè)皆篤信，科技進(jìn)步可以讓部分城市生活的難題迎刃而解。阿里巴巴集團(tuán)研發(fā)的“城市大腦”平臺(tái)正在中國(guó)其他幾個(gè)城市投入使用，并于去年在馬來(lái)西亞首都吉隆坡推出。

Last fall, Volkswagen (VLKAF) and Siemens (SIEGY) began trials of a smart traffic system in the German city of Wolfsburg, which was aimed at helping drivers predict when to expect a wave of green lights.

去年秋天，大眾和西門子開始在德國(guó)沃爾夫斯堡市試驗(yàn)一種智能交通系統(tǒng)，旨在幫助司機(jī)預(yù)測(cè)何時(shí)會(huì)出現(xiàn)綠燈。

根據(jù)大眾汽車與供應(yīng)商西門子聯(lián)手德國(guó)沃爾夫斯堡市推出的智能交叉試點(diǎn)項(xiàng)目，未來(lái)，10個(gè)交通信號(hào)的光相位可以與聯(lián)網(wǎng)汽車通信，智能探索“綠色浪潮”的發(fā)生時(shí)間。在正確的時(shí)間點(diǎn)上，十字路口的連續(xù)綠燈可以讓車輛在不停車的情況下行駛，從而提高效率，減少交通擁堵。

Experts say this is just the start.

專家們認(rèn)為這僅僅是開始。

"Even the most cutting-edge smart cities on the planet are still at the beginning of their journey," the McKinsey Global Institute said in a report last year. "Since technology never stands still, the bar will only get higher."

2018年，麥肯錫全球研究院的一份報(bào)告表明:“即便是地球上最先進(jìn)的智慧城市，也仍處于起步階段。因?yàn)榧夹g(shù)不會(huì)停滯不前，智慧城市的門檻只會(huì)越來(lái)越高?！?/p>

By 2025, cities using such systems could cut commutes by an average of 15% to 20%, the institute predicted.

該研究院還預(yù)測(cè)，到2025年，采用這類系統(tǒng)的城市可將通勤時(shí)間平均縮短15%至20%。

But the technology has also raised privacy concerns, particularly in China, where surveillance is rising and facial recognition cameras are spreading into areas like public restrooms.

然而，這項(xiàng)技術(shù)也引發(fā)了人們對(duì)隱私的擔(dān)憂，尤其是在中國(guó)——在這里，監(jiān)控設(shè)備正在增漲，面部識(shí)別攝像頭正蔓延到公共衛(wèi)生間等領(lǐng)域。

According to a recent survey by tech firm Tencent(TCEHY) and Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, nearly 80% of respondents said they worried about the impact of artificial intelligence on their privacy.

根據(jù)科技公司騰訊和中央電視臺(tái)最近的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查，近80%的受訪者都表示，他們很擔(dān)憂人工智能對(duì)個(gè)人隱私帶來(lái)的影響。

"We have to solve the privacy issue," Wang said. "That's for sure."

王堅(jiān)表示，“毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，我們必須解決隱私問(wèn)題?！?/p>

But he argued that the benefits of projects like the City Brain will outweigh concerns in the end, primarily by allowing cities to function on "as little natural resources as possible."

但他也堅(jiān)信，像“城市大腦”這樣的項(xiàng)目，其好處終將超過(guò)人們的擔(dān)憂，主要是在滿足城市耗費(fèi)“盡可能少的自然資源”需求上發(fā)揮了作用。