St. Charles using AI to gather data on downtown activity

Focus is on foot traffic activity and consumer behavior of residents and visitors

Author

Sam Kraft
November 22, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

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The City of St. Charles is leveraging cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology to understand local economic activity and event participation through a sophisticated data analytics platform called Placer.AI.

Key points:

  • AI-powered location analytics track visitor patterns, event success and potential business opportunities without revealing individual personal information.

  • The technology costs $20K per year, shared equally between the city and St. Charles Business Alliance.

  • The platform can show where people travel, what events they attend, and which businesses they visit, which city leaders say allows them to make more informed economic development decisions.

  • One local resident raised privacy concerns during a recent city meeting, suggesting the technology might lead to troublesome surveillance issues.

Get more details in this Daily Herald article.

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