SOCIAL IMPACT HACKATHON: ‘AI FOR GREEN CITIES’
Luca Veress, our Junior Consultant participated in a hackathon hosted Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME) on 7-9 December 2023.
Focused on the theme ‘Artificial Intelligence for Green Cities,’ the event aimed to harness the power of technology to create more sustainable and eco-friendly urban environments. The hackathon comprised a 1.5-day practical training on AI and machine learning fundamentals, followed by a 24-hour challenge.
This is how Luca relates her experiences:
“The event specifically tackled the concept of the ’15-minutes city’ in urban planning, emphasizing accessibility to essential amenities within a short walking or biking distance. The core of the concept is to create a city where residents can access essential amenities within 15 minutes of active transport (walking, biking), eliminating the need for long-distance travel. This approach gained significance during the pandemic when people were forced to stay home, allowing them only to walk in the proximity of their residence.
One reason why this approach does not materialize in Budapest is the high number of vacant and underutilized properties in the city. Consequently, we devised a solution—an AI-based platform designed for municipalities to transform empty properties into vibrant places. To develop a feasible solution, we received a substantial amount of data from Budapest Foundation for Enterprise (BKV), Centre for Budapest Transport (BKK), and local municipalities.
One of the most challenging aspects for me was condensing our solution into only a 3-minute pitch, which required approximately fifty practice sessions to be ready for the final presentation. Overall, it was an inspiring experience to focus on a specific problem for 24 hours and be surrounded by like-minded people. Fortunately, the venue provided an encouraging atmosphere to work on the challenge, with different rooms, food options, and sports opportunities making the environment as convenient as possible” – notes Luca.
In conjunction with the hackathon, an ‘Emerging Technology Conference’ about AI in art and design took place. One of the most engaging speeches was delivered by Prószéky Gábor, the director-general of the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics (Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont), who provided insights into the operation of GPT and introduced the “Hungarian ChatGPT” named PULI.
Photos: Máté Lakos, MOME
