Infopark Phase III to Become AI-native City: Infopark CEO Susanth Kurunthil

KOCHI:
Infopark CEO Susanth Kurunthil said that instead of integrating technology into existing cities at a later stage, an AI-native city should function with Artificial Intelligence as its core foundation right from the planning stage. This model will be adopted for the third phase of development of Kochi Infopark, which will be an “AI-native” city.

He was speaking at a panel discussion on “Cognitive Infrastructure for Sustainable and Resilient Futures” at the India AI Impact Summit organised by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, held in New Delhi.

As part of the Infopark Phase III project, there are plans to develop a “City Brain” that will collect real-time data from roads, buildings, pipelines, public spaces and other urban infrastructure and analyse it. The integrated township, spread across 565 acres, will feature interconnected urban systems managed by advanced technologies that are secure and capable of self-adjusting based on changing conditions. He added that this will make the city safer and more adaptable.

He also explained the potential risks associated with the use of AI technologies. He noted that changes in algorithms and security concerns arising from reduced human oversight must be anticipated. Errors in algorithms could potentially disrupt the entire technological network of the township, which is a major challenge. He also emphasised the importance of adopting open-source technologies to avoid dependence on a single company, which can also help reduce project costs.

Participants in the discussion included globally renowned AI expert Professor Stuart Russell from the University of California, Berkeley, Bertrand Badré, CEO & Founder, Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital, Suparna Singh, Head, Strategy and Special Projects, Larsen & Toubro, Mihir Kumar Singh, Development Commissioner, Govt of Bihar and G. Sayeed Choudhury Associate Dean, Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Saurabh Mishra, CEO & Co-Founder, Taiyo AI, Former World Bank, IMF, IFC, Stanford AI Index, was the moderator.