Urban AI

“Everybody’s talking about AI!” This week’s joke is that the US Education Secretary spoke enthusiastically about the introduction of A1 into early schooling. A1 is a brown sauce, similar to HP sauce in the UK.

Contrarily, the Stanford AI Index 2025 Annual Report shows that people are now more aware of AI, particularly large language models, and are becoming optimistic about its use. At the same time, concerns persist about data privacy, bias, and misinformation.

The report explores AI’s use in fields such as healthcare, robotics, education, and governance, but there is no discussion of built environment disciplines or spatial design practices — e.g. architecture, urbanism, landscape, and design in general.

Hence the need for my book out in paper format last week:
Coyne, Richard. AI and Language in the Urban Context: Conversational Artificial Intelligence in Cities, London: Routledge, 2025. Open Access edition (Anyone can download it for free.)

Here is the description on the back cover:

In a world influenced increasingly by artificial intelligence (AI), the city emerges as a dynamic hub of digital conversations. AI and Language in the Urban Context offers a novel exploration of how AI, particularly large language models (LLMs), is transforming urban environments. Moving beyond the typical technological narratives, this book draws on the author’s unique expertise in design, semiotics and hermeneutics to present a critical cultural perspective on AI’s role in the city.

Focusing on the intersection of urban theory and AI, the book reveals how conversational AI is reshaping social interactions, decision-making processes, and media in urban spaces. By merging practical knowledge of AI algorithms with an understanding of urban practices, the author highlights the opportunities and challenges AI presents for modern cities.

This book is essential for anyone interested in the future of urban living. It provides a deep dive into the technical, social and cultural implications of AI in cities, offering practical examples and philosophical insights. Readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of how AI is influencing the design, governance and dynamics of urban life in the digital age.

The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

CONTENTS

Introduction: From computer-aided design to conversational AI
1. Language as urban technology
2. Scripting the city
3. Core functions of LLMs in the urban context
4. Tuning the city
5. Tokenization
6. The meaning and use of words
7. Context windows
8. Time and order
9. The attention economy
10. Urban actors
11. Panpsychic city
12. The end of cities
13. Epilogue: Romancing the conversational city
Glossary
Appendix A: Programming an LLM
Appendix B: Positional encoding formulas
Appendix C: An alternative glossary of Al
Index
Reference list

Reference

• Maslej, N., L. Fattorini, R. Perrault, Y. Gil, V. Parli, N. Kariuki, E. Capstick, A. Reuel, E. Brynjolfsson, J. Etchemendy, K. Ligett, T. Lyons, J. Manyika, J.C. Niebles, Y. Shoham, R. Wald, T. Walsh, A. Hamrah, L. Santarlasci, J. Betts Lotufo, A. Rome, A. Shi and O. Sukrut, The AI Index 2025 Annual Report, Stanford CA: AI Index Steering Committee, Institute for Human-Centered AI, Stanford University, 2025.