There is a global race to harness IoT and AI into large-scale management systems.
The system (Alibaba's smart city software) is operational in the company's hometown of Hangzhou, where it's focused on traffic management and -- according to Alibaba -- has reduced travel times by 10 percent since its launch in 2016. Since then, it's been deployed in at least two additional Chinese cities and, later this year, will be rolled out in its first foreign location, Kuala Lumpur.
One possible outcome for countries lacking resident AI is for them to outsource the majority of their operations. The people in power then get to focus on their core competency -- tending to their patronage systems. And the resultant cost savings can be split (or not) between the rulers and the ruled.
In the more autocratic of these countries, when AI-related mistakes are made, what are the odds that the errors will just be paved over in the name of progress and ease of administration?