AI adoption for smart urban development - Policy model for digitalized and sustainable society

By 2030, it is projected that residents living in cities will additionally increase and this will place a great strain on infrastructures, natural resources, transportation, healthcare, economy, etc. As such the notion of smart cities are rapidly developing as a potential solution to address several challenges faced in urban environments such as pollution, reduced economic growth, etc. Hence, it is important to address societal growth by adopting disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enable a more digitalized and sustainable society. Evidence from the literature reveals that AI has been adopted in different sectors such as in healthcare, finance, agriculture, transportation, manufacturing, education, etc. Despite the possible benefits of AI, there are several factors that can influence the adoption of AI in society. This article aims to provide an extensive assessment on the applications of AI and barriers faced by smart cities in adopting AI. Through a systematic literature review, this study undertook an in-depth exploration of AI's impact and employed content analysis to present the techno-social factors that inhibit the adoption of AI in society. This article contributes to the literature by proposing a policy model as a reference model to guide the adoption of AI. Findings from this study presents AI adoption for sustainable urban development. Additionally, this study provides recommendations for decision makers in making more informed decisions about the transformative impact of AI in guiding cities into becoming a more digitalized and sustainable communities.