Link to the source [ExampleSource]The United States “love affair with the car” has not been kind to pedestrians.
In 2020, more than 6,500 people were beaten and killed as they walked across the country.
A new report by Smart Growth America puts most of the blame on roads.
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“Our country’s streets are inherently dangerous, designed primarily to move cars quickly at the expense of everyone’s safety,” the study authors wrote.
The activists want streets to be redesigned for pedestrian safety.
A new AI experiment depicts the results.
US-19, “The Deadliest Road in America” (New Port Richey, Florida) pic.twitter.com/dZRsaALn83
— AI-generated street transformations (@betterstreetsai) July 27, 2022
The project is the brainchild of Zach Katz, a Brooklyn-based artist.
Katz was playing with the DALL-E 2 image generator. After feeding the Google Street View images system into the system, Katz believed the output could bring about real change.
“I thought it was really cool, what it spat out, and I was a little blown away by the transformative potential it has in helping people envision better cities,” he told Bloomberg News.
But are the concepts better than the existing designs? You can judge that for yourself:
The BQE (Brooklyn, NY) pic.twitter.com/o1laD77cKn
— AI-generated street transformations (@betterstreetsai) July 25, 2022
Walnut Street (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) pic.twitter.com/XzEtxBVbe7
— AI-generated street transformations (@betterstreetsai) August 1, 2022
E Brady St (Milwaukee, WI) pic.twitter.com/6HuLYOjnLl
— AI-generated street transformations (@betterstreetsai) July 25, 2022
Kalakaua Ave (Honolulu, Hawaii) pic.twitter.com/D6EstzHqx9
— AI-generated street transformations (@betterstreetsai) August 3, 2022
Cabrillo Highway (San Diego, California) pic.twitter.com/4hs9RVELwT
— AI-generated street transformations (@betterstreetsai) July 29, 2022
Newbury Street (Boston, Massachusetts) pic.twitter.com/4kXF3qBzQX
— AI-generated street transformations (@betterstreetsai) July 26, 2022
Pike Place Market (Seattle, Washington) pic.twitter.com/gD7a0bO7wm
— AI-generated street transformations (@betterstreetsai) July 30, 2022
6th Street Overpass (Los Angeles, CA) pic.twitter.com/7JwwlpcjPy
— AI-generated street transformations (@betterstreetsai) July 25, 2022
Katz hopes the project will advance advocacy for more livable streets. With a bit of luck, it could even end some love affairs with cars.