Author: Abhiramini Rajiv
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Artikel
Elucidating a ‘black-box’ transcends explaining the algorithm
Responding to the trend of increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), we need to ensure applica- tions of AI are designed, implemented, utilised and evaluated in a careful manner. Explainable AI, or XAI, meaning; - given a certain audience, the details and reasons of both technical processes of the algorithm-support system and the reasoning behind the system to make its functioning clear or easy to understand - is one of the ways to responsibly design and implement AI systems. This re- search looks into AI-supported public decision-making processes in the Netherlands and the role and possible contribution of XAI in such a context. To this end, I conducted a mixed-method qualitative study; interviewing sixteen respondents from three key-actor groups within two Dutch national public sector executive bodies, additionally performing three observations and document-analysis. Differen- tiating between different phases of an AI system’s implementation life-cycle, the study unveils how the respective actors - managers, data scientists and domain experts/(potential) AI users - encounter various challenges in bringing an AI system from idea to production. The empirical findings show that many AI systems, whilst technically developed, are not deployed or adopted by the wider organisation. The study discerns the challenges hindering the AI implementation process from an organisational, human and technical point of view. Moreover, the study highlights the need to approach XAI from a multi-purpose, multi-actor perspective; both acknowledging that various actors need different kinds of explanations, but also bridging different respective professional worldviews to apprehend one another. XAI is often seen as a one-size-fits-all solution for various implementation challenges, however the study shows that certain challenges need to be addressed at least beyond traditional ways of XAI from a computer science perspective, and perhaps beyond XAI all together. As such, the insights of this thesis contribute to generating a more realistic idea about the opportunities and limitations of XAI, within real-world AI implementation processes in the public sector.
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Artikel
A Cleaner Public Space Through Robots
The Dutch metropolis of Amsterdam deals with a waste problem. Both the inhabitants and tourists in Amsterdam experience nuisance from litter. The future growth of Amsterdam will only amplify this problem. To address this, the municipality needs to increase the productivity of the Schoon department, the department tasked with keeping the public space of Amsterdam clean. Therefore, the responsible and effective introduction of a cleaning robot is researched. During a series of walk-along days, interviews, experiments and observations, I identified multiple themes, important for the job satisfaction of the Schoon employees. This knowledge, combined with observed knowledge on practical challenges caused by the design of the Amsterdam public space on the cleaning activities, translates into a number of design qualities for a future cleaning robot.
References can be found inside the document.An exploratory research into the introduction of a cleaning robot in the Amsterdam Schoon department
The results of this research seem to indicate that this cleaning robot could best be deployed during the shifts tasked with brooming the streets and emptying the trash bins, the Veegshift and Vuilnisbakkenshift respectively. During those shifts it can potentially assist in cleaning the street using the RAVO mechanical streetsweeper and emptying trash bins respectively. Assisting during those two tasks frees up manpower that can be utilized to increase the productivity of those shifts. The findings further highlight that this future robot should not compromise the freedom experienced by the Schoon employees in how they carry out their work. Nor should this robot replace the Schoon employees, as this would remove the human interaction with bystanders, an aspect of the work greatly appreciated by the employees. The loss of human interaction might also lead to a more monotonous situation, which is the opposite of the variety enjoyed by the Schoon employees during their work. The future robot should also be user friendly, allowing everyone in the department to operate the robot. Furthermore, the robot must be able to communicate its status, intentions and possible help requests and offers to its Schoon colleagues. Overall, the introduction of a cleaning robot can improve the cleanliness of the city of Amsterdam when the design incorporates the themes important for the job satisfaction of the Schoon employees, aims at an efficient human-robot collaboration through clear communication and combines the right type of autonomy with the challenging Amsterdam environment.
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Artikel
MSc Thesis AMS Institute - AI in Local Governmental Agencies: Exploring the process of adopting AI-systems
This research focuses on the role of governmental agencies as smart buyer, co-developer, user and service provider of AI-systems. In short; their role as adopter of AI-systems. As of now, there is little research done into the process that comes with adopting AI in local governmental agencies. Examining what this process entails helps local governmental agencies to be better equipped when they want to fulfil its role as adopter of AI-systems to benefit their citizens. In this research, I try to contribute to this lack of knowledge about the process of AI-adoption by filling in the information gap of what this process looks like for local governmental agencies.
References can be found inside the document.Author: Ellard Volmer
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Artikel
MSc Thesis AMS Institute - Re-thinking the Role of Citizens in Evaluating Quality of Life in the Smart City
Although there are multiple definitions of the concept, citizen engagement is understood as a crucial part of improving quality of life, the overall goal of the smart city. This study attempts to find out what role citizens can play in evaluating for quality of life by attempting to describe the relationship between the two in the context of smart city projects in Amsterdam. The inability of smart cities and smart projects to be able to identify their impact regarding quality of life demands the involvement of citizens in the process. Therefore, this research takes an interpretive approach to contextually study the setting of Amsterdam as a smart city and projects within it. The results show that Amsterdam, despite being labelled a “smart city”, is moving away from the term. Furthermore, its approach to development is inherently citizen-centric, placing a large importance on the quality of life. Still, challenges also exist in the city of Amsterdam, which are mentioned in the thesis.
References can be found inside the document.Author: Siddharth Venkatachalam
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Artikel
MSc Thesis AMS Institute - Improving social housing using a sea of open data
In the challenge of climate change, energetically improving the existing residential buildings offers a way to reduce the CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions of the built environment. In the Netherlands, housing associations own and maintain almost a third (2.3 million housing units) of the entire Dutch housing stock and could therefore play a significant role in the reduction of CO2 emissions. To come to this reduction, housing associations first have to choose which housing unit they would like to energetically improve, followed by the decision of when and how. In this decision making process, they utilize data they have generated themselves to make an informed decision. However, the role of data that is generated by another person or organization is unclear, and even less clear is the role of open data in this decision making process. Against this background, this thesis explores the role of open data in the decision-making process by housing associations in the energetic improvement of housing units. It studies the approaches housing associations apply in the energetic improvement of housing units, stakeholders of housing associations in the energetic improvement, possibilities and limitations of the available and relevant data to the decision-making process, desirable features of the conventional decision-making support systems and unconventional yet relevant decision-making support systems regarding the energetic improvement by housing associations.
References can be found inside the document.Author: Ruben Büno Heslinga
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Artikel
MSc Thesis AMS Institute - Exploring The CO coin in an Urban Multi-Stakeholder Network
This research aims to evaluate the policies and strategies that cities can deploy to facilitate the transition to clean shared mobility. Using metrics, such as uptake in electric vehicles and deployment rate of shared mobility services, a baseline analysis is conducted to establish recent trends in this field for the case study of Amsterdam. Next, the system dynamics model provides insights into the interactions between the personal and shared mobility system that can be used to evaluate potential policy scenarios.
Based on the case study considered for the City of Amsterdam, the resulting trends show that the policy packages evaluated facilitate carsharing as a conduit to drastically reduce the market share of personal vehicles and are critical to the shift towards electric vehicle market dominance. The results can then be compared to inform the relative effectiveness of the policy packages considered. While there are limitations to the study, the model provides a beneficial tool for governments to evaluate effectiveness, side-effects, and constraints of transitioning the personal vehicle market towards a more sustainable future.
References can be found inside the document.Author: Nikolaus Houben
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Artikel
MSc MADE Thesis AMS Institute - ‘What time is it?’: a philosophical analysis of diverse time concepts
Time can be an incredibly rich design tool, yet in today’s world it is most commonly seen and applied as a constant variable for measurement. Before the proliferation of accurate and synchronized clocks, time perception was determined by authoritative rules, relative geographical position to the sun, rhythm of the seasons, observations of stars and life on earth as well as physical and mental exercise.
Seeing and applying time in a diverse way helps making our lives liveable and sustainable. To expand our understanding of time beyond the concept of speed (which often leads to a dichotomy of faster versus slower) this study focusses on developing time diversity. The methods employed are design thinking, social deconstruction, literature study, in-depth interviews with activists, artists and researchers who study time, light and visual cataloguiging.
References for this study can be found inside this document.Author: Daniel van Duijn