Future Portals

Encouraging more experimental policymaking and improve civic engagement by visualising possible policy-based urban futures through generative AI and foresight methodologies.

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Concept

Having worked in the field of EU policy beforehand, I noticed how policymakers often lack tangible evidence to make well-informed decisions based on the impact that their decisions could have. I saw the generative AI boom as a real opportunity to bring more innovative foresight tools to policymaking as AI can help us imagine scenarios that we can't fathom on our own. I therefore decided to launch a project with Jorge, who is also interested in using technology for foresight, to help visualise future urban policy scenarios through generative AI and foresight methodology to encourage more experimental policymaking. By simulating immersive experiences of possible futures resulting from policy initiatives, we aim to provide people, and especially policymakers, with tangible and innovative tools to experience the possible impact of policies and improve civic engagement mechanisms. 

Case Study: Barcelona
For our first iteration of this project, we focused on visualising the possible impact that the EU's different green policy strategies (Renovation Wave, Smart and Sustainable Mobility Strategy, New European Bauhaus and Circular Economy Action Plan) could have on Barcelona. We trained a generative AI system with a set of foresight methodologies (STEEPV, Signal Scanning, Critical Uncertainties, Four Future Scenario Archetypes) and these policies, and prompted it to visualise the impact that they could have on specific places in Barcelona, based on 360° pictures taken around the city. 
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Reflections and Conclusions

Participants were positively surprised by our project and showed enthusiasm. Some even proposed to connect us with external organisations that might be interested: we might have a lead for an exhibition in collaboration with Berlin's CityLab. We indeed plan to reach out to stakeholders of relevance in the policy sector within my network and in the civic community to test our product.

The technology needs to be more mature for the experience to become optimal. The product will evolve as the generative AI models used evolve. We think there is a lot of potential for this project as this can bring in more experimental approaches to policymaking and decision-making overall, as this could also be used in other environments. By making the feedback mechanism more immersive, this tool can also help citizens be more aware and involved in policy as it makes policy jargon more accessible.

As the state-of-the-art technology evolves, we want to create different ways to showcase this future scenario to enable different feedback processes: through virtual reality, through video, through image portals in the city, through physical objects present in the virtual scenarios etc. We also want to create experiences where different types of stakeholders could provide feedback, and automatize the feedback collection. 

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