Old Town will be using an artificial intelligence program later this year to track people in the city and how they’re spending time in the area.
The AI program, Placer.ai, uses data collected from smartphones of people in a specific area, including where they were before and went after they entered the area, how long they spent there and personal information like annual income. The identity of the person being tracked is not disclosed and none of the information is accessible in real time, according to Placer.ai’s website.
E.J. Roach, director of economic and community development in Old Town, said the data will be used to create more personalized marketing in communities and will give the city more information about what people are interested in downtown.
“It’s another tool in our toolbox to track the data and see what we’re doing,” he said.
Old Town is one of multiple communities in Greater Bangor that will use the program. Funding comes from the Greater Bangor Recreation Economy for Rural Communities group, part of Eastern Maine Development Corporation. Communities like Old Town have to pay a share for the program, but it is less expensive than if the city wanted to get a subscription themselves, Roach said.
Roach did not disclose how much Old Town is paying for the service as part of the group.
The towns and cities in Greater Bangor would not be the only areas in the country to use Placer to collect data. Larger cities, including Denver and Philadelphia, use the program as well as cities ranging to populations with less than 10,000 residents.
The information is often used to secure more grants and bring more businesses to an area, according to Placer.ai’s website. Data on demographics, time spent and movement before and after the person was in the area have been used to show needs for specific grants and demands for businesses.
Businesses wanting to come into an area will also know more about the city because of the data and may be more willing to locate in Old Town because of it, Roach said. Current local businesses will also be able to access the data to inform their own marketing decisions.
AI is used in the process by aggregating data, recognizing patterns and creating mapping using the data, according to the website.
The company states that it does not collect, share or sell any personal information. Through the use of multiple devices, the company retains anonymity of the users and specifically doesn’t use data for anyone under the age of 18, according to the company’s website.
People can opt out of sharing their data by limiting location access from their phone and restricting apps from using their location.
