Quebec municipalities using artificial intelligence to track tree cover, cars, pools [Video]

Municipalities in Quebec’s capital region have recently begun using artificial intelligence to track everything from tree cover to cars — and even backyard pools.

The Communauté métropolitaine de Québec, which groups Quebec City and its suburbs, says the groundbreaking project will help member municipalities achieve their environmental targets, assess parking availability and monitor urban development. But as more Canadian cities adopt AI tools, experts warn they need to think carefully about how they’re using the technology, and whether the public is fully on board.

Frédérick Lafrance, geomatics development manager at CMQuébec, said the organization has trained a deep learning model on high-definition aerial photos of Quebec City and the surrounding region taken in 2021. The AI model can pick out and highlight several different features, including buildings, trees, vehicles, swimming pools, backyard trampolines and jungle gyms.

“The performance is equivalent or very similar to a human,” he said in a …