“城市大腦”就是下一個登月計劃，未來十年催生的技術將遠超今天的想象。”

——阿里巴巴首席架構師王堅

“城市大腦”可以理解為一座城市的人工智能中樞。其內核采用阿里云ET人工智能技術，可以對整個城市進行全局實時分析，自動調配公共資源，修正城市運行中的Bug，最終將進化成為能夠治理城市各項“疑難雜癥”的超級人工智能。阿里巴巴也一直在致力于人類發展和城市建設上做努力阿里云ET城市大腦已在全球范圍內已有杭州、衢州、烏鎮、蘇州、重慶、澳門、吉隆坡等11個城市先后落地，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.

對于中國東部城市，阿里巴巴的總部所在地——杭州來說，交通擁堵曾是困擾居民的癥結。

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700萬人口的省會城市曾一度上榜中國最擁堵城市且排名第五，現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，這一變化的實現得益于一項被稱為“城市大腦”的發明。這一平臺利用人工智能技術來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數據。

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.

該平臺在協調全市1000多個道路信號的同時，也在實時分析這些數據信息，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.

過長達兩年的測試，這一系統似乎正在發揮效用。阿里巴巴方表示，“城市大腦”不僅縮短了人們的通勤時間，也幫助急救人員，使消防車和救護車到達事故現場的耗時大大減半。

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的“城市大腦”項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."

一些普通司機的親身經歷也證實了這一點。就職于知名約車服務公司“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40分鐘，但現在路況已經“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.

阿里巴巴集團技術委員會主席王堅曾表示：“中國城市面臨的挑戰已經超過了世界上任何一個國家。”

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，隨著機器學習等新興技術的出現，社區正在逐漸獲取諸如解決水資源短缺等問題的手段。

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

王堅認為，“最終一切都將取決于計算力，這就像我們依賴電力一樣。”

通過視頻識別交通事故、擁堵狀況，融合互聯網數據及接警數據，即時全面的對城市突發情況進行感知。結合智能車輛調度技術，對警、消、救等各類車輛進行聯合指揮調度，同時聯動紅綠燈對緊急事件特種車輛進行優先通行控制。

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.

許多城市和企業皆篤信，科技進步可以讓部分城市生活的難題迎刃而解。阿里巴巴集團研發的“城市大腦”平臺正在中國其他幾個城市投入使用，并于去年在馬來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沃爾夫斯堡市試驗一種智能交通系統，旨在幫助司機預測何時會出現綠燈。

根據大眾汽車與供應商西門子聯手德國沃爾夫斯堡市推出的智能交叉試點項目，未來，10個交通信號的光相位可以與聯網汽車通信，智能探索“綠色浪潮”的發生時間。在正確的時間點上，十字路口的連續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告表明:“即便是地球上最先進的智慧城市，也仍處于起步階段。因為技術不會停滯不前，智慧城市的門檻只會越來越高。”

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

該研究院還預測，到2025年，采用這類系統的城市可將通勤時間平均縮短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，這項技術也引發了人們對隱私的擔憂，尤其是在中國——在這里，監控設備正在增漲，面部識別攝像頭正蔓延到公共衛生間等領域。

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.

根據科技公司騰訊和中央電視臺最近的一項調查，近80%的受訪者都表示，他們很擔憂人工智能對個人隱私帶來的影響。

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

王堅表示，“毫無疑問，我們必須解決隱私問題。”

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."

但他也堅信，像“城市大腦”這樣的項目，其好處終將超過人們的擔憂，主要是在滿足城市耗費“盡可能少的自然資源”需求上發揮了作用。