Jacob Dreyer in the Ideas Letter:
In these hot summer mornings, I go with my son to the park to look at swans. One day, we passed by a government-run canteen, and I stopped to pick up a snack for him. I noticed, mounted on the wall, a huge screen that captured data of the most banal kind: the patrons’ age group, the most commonly ordered dish. A high-tech control room was on display as the elderly diners ate their breakfast. I did a bit of research and discovered that this place was a pioneer project that might be going national soon. In cities across China, government-subsidized food halls for seniors use AI to optimize ingredient ordering, reduce food waste, and track nutritional data. These smart canteens, often tucked into public housing complexes or community centers, demonstrate how AI-enhanced cost-effectiveness allows the state to provide services that would once have been seen as too expensive to sustain.
In my area of Shanghai, many of the elderly are living alone in small apartments, sustained by a Chinese form of rent control. Shanghai’s infrastructure simultaneously caters to upper-middle-income families like my own, with expectations that the city is as livable London or New York, and to the elderly pensioners who skip meals to save money. As the city tries to prepare for an aging population, AI and big data are seen as the magic bullet that can help the government solve its problems.
More here.
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