Cleveland Deploys AI to Monitor Urban Blight

The City of Cleveland is gearing up for a major technological upgrade in its fight against urban blight. City Hall is launching a one-year pilot project that combines a camera-equipped car with artificial intelligence to get a better, faster, and more frequent look at property conditions across its 1,264 miles of streets.

The plan involves a city vehicle, outfitted with two specialized cameras, which will repeatedly drive through every neighborhood, capturing images of each parcel of land. This visual data will then be processed by sophisticated AI software from City Detect Inc., an Alabama-based tech company.

A High-Tech Approach to Urban Surveys

This new initiative, funded by an $85,000 grant from the Rocket Community Fund, represents a dramatic shift from Cleveland's traditional property surveys. In the past, these surveys were massive manual undertakings. The 2022 survey, for instance, required about 40 code inspectors, several months of work, and cost $170,000.

In contrast, the AI-powered car is expected to photograph every parcel in the city in about a month. This speed allows for a continuously updated map of property conditions, rather than a static snapshot that quickly becomes outdated.

"City Detect provides a way to essentially do a property survey as fast as we can drive the city," explained Building and Housing Director Sally Martin O’Toole. This efficiency means officials will have a near real-time understanding of neighborhood conditions.

How AI Will Analyze Cleveland's Streets

The City Detect software is designed to automatically spot common signs of neglect and code violations. It can identify issues like illegal dumping, graffiti, overgrown grass, collapsing structures, and boarded-up windows. Elizabeth Crowe, who directs the city’s Office of Urban Analytics and Innovation, noted that the software is "a little scary good" at picking out these details.

A crucial part of the year-long project will be training the AI to understand the nuances of Cleveland's environment. "We have to teach it," O’Toole said, explaining that staff will help the software learn the difference between minor litter and a major debris field. The system will also be taught to account for Ohio's weather, including how to analyze properties covered in snow.

It's important to note that the city will not automatically issue violations based on the AI's findings. Instead, the photos will serve as a tool for inspectors to verify resident complaints, close out cases where violations have been fixed, and prioritize their on-the-ground efforts.

City Council's Green Light and Privacy Concerns

Cleveland City Council members reacted positively to the plan. Ward 14 Council Member Jasmin Santana, who often photographs violations in her ward herself, noted that the system could help the city manage a workload that currently feels overwhelming.

Council members Kris Harsh and Rebecca Maurer raised important questions about surveillance and resident privacy. However, they were reassured by the administration's commitment to protecting privacy. Crowe confirmed that all faces and license plates will be blurred in the images, and the city will not receive any unredacted photos from City Detect. With these safeguards in place, the council approved the trial run, viewing the technology as a valuable new tool for maintaining the city's neighborhoods.