Artificial Intelligence and Urbanization: The Rise of the Elysium City

Abstract

From ancient times, Greek religion introduced Elysium as a heavenly place to which admission was exclusively reserved for mortals related to gods, heroes, and those blessed by gods. We argue that the rise of artificial intelligence technology will lead to the creation of Elysium cities. Elysium cities agents will be technologists, technocrats, intelligent machines, and wealthy capitalists. These cities will be the first embracers of the artificial intelligence technology and will do so by incorporating five capabilities: physical, intellectual, information, governance, and socio-economic. As early adopters, these cities will acquire tremendous political and economic power and will turn into self-governing city-states. During the early stages of the AI revolution, these Elysium cities will shed millions of unemployed via a process we call De-tech Migration. De-tech cities will be the recipients of the labor migration from the Elysium cities and will rapidly become and remain impoverished. This article presents key policy suggestions that can be adopted by companies and governments to avoid potential decline and find new pathways towards growth and prosperity in an artificial intelligence economy.