Getting the policy right
Martin Makaryan — Strategy and Operations Manager, Government Affairs
The government must support modernizing America’s built environment through applied AI
In the decades since the internet revolutionized our society, America has lived in two different realities. In our digital lives, commerce has become instant, frictionless and intuitive. We can order groceries with a tap, stream movies in seconds and authenticate our identities with a glance at our phones. But the moment we step into the physical world, whether a parking garage or a commercial building, we face the realities of friction. We find ourselves fumbling for tickets, waiting at gates and navigating manual payment systems built for a pre-digital era.
America’s physical infrastructure is decades behind its digital counterpart. Beyond the inconvenience to the average person, this gap represents a massive loss in productivity and quality of life. The solution isn’t just "better” concrete or "smarter" apps. With the ongoing AI revolution, there’s a real opportunity to fundamentally rethink how we interact with the built environments around us in cities big and small. A layer of applied AI that makes physical spaces as intelligent as virtual ecosystems can help make the real world as frictionless as the digital one.
A new paradigm
The Recognition Economy is part of the physical world’s transformation powered by advancements in computer vision and AI. At Metropolis, we think of it as a fundamental shift: A move away from physical artifacts like keys, cards and tickets toward a world where our presence becomes the key to seamless transactions, giving back more of humanity’s most valuable asset: time.
In this economy, every interaction is a transparent and proportionate exchange. A consumer provides a signal — be it a vehicle, their presence, or a device — in exchange for specific services like access, payment or safety. When a computer vision system recognizes a car entering a garage and processes payment without the driver ever interacting with a kiosk, that’s the Recognition Economy in action.
The policy challenge: Innovation vs. regulation
The question today is not whether this technology will modernize American infrastructure; that process is already in motion. The real question is whether our public policy will be designed to make that modernization work for everyone.
Currently, American cities are navigating a confusing patchwork of local ordinances and state bills — many written before this technology even existed — while Washington tries to institute a federal AI framework. Meanwhile, global competitors are deploying intelligent infrastructure at a national scale. To ensure America leads rather than imports this transition, we must adopt policy principles that foster innovation and ensure every American tangibly benefits from the shift into the Recognition Economy.
First, we must reject preemptive bans. Prohibiting technology categories before evidence of systematic harm exists is a policy failure that forfeits the public benefits of modernization to political anxiety. Instead, legislation should be narrow and specific, targeting defined harms in specific contexts rather than using vague terms that create regulatory ambiguity.
Second, the ultimate test for any regulation must be consumer benefit. Good policy should serve the broad public, not the established interests of incumbents who use the language of protection to capture the regulatory process.
Finally, we must treat applied AI as national infrastructure. Just as we prioritize funding for roads and bridges, the sensor networks and AI systems that make those physical assets function efficiently deserve equivalent treatment in our legislation and funding programs, and the full support of local, state and federal governments through pilots, incentives and regulatory sandboxes.
Local officials have the power to transform the daily experience of residents in the time it takes Congress to hold a single hearing. By embracing public-private partnerships, procurement reform and municipal pilots, city and state leaders can reduce congestion, improve safety and enhance the urban quality of life.
The age of applied AI is here, present in every transit corridor and parking facility where millions move every day. By building rules that are as intelligent as the infrastructure they govern and fostering innovation through incentives and proactive programs, we can ensure America leads in AI and ushers in a new era of prosperity. Everyday Americans win when we foster applied AI.