Speaker
Description
As part of the International Noise Awareness Day, in January 2026 the German Acoustical Society (DEGA) and the German Environment Agency (The UBA) organized an expert panel to discuss the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across various fields related to sound. The goal was to identify from different disciplinary angles both challenges and useful applications to deal with urban sound. With this presentation it is intended to bring the discussion to the European level of expert groups. The panel focused on sharing experiences with AI in environmental acoustics, noise control, and soundscapes, highlighting applications, opportunities, obstacles and risks. It is evident that AI has already conquered personal and professional contexts, mainly as a support tool still requiring expert oversight. In the field of urban sound, AI offers potential to improve data quality, enable smarter traffic management, enhance urban and noise planning, and support more precise sound analysis and personalized noise assessments. The experts also recognized that AI can improve efficiency, support public communication, and enable new approaches like sensor-based monitoring and citizen science. However, identified key challenges include data privacy, legal constraints, dependency on high data quality and extensive training data, and the limited transparency of AI models. There is also concern about overreliance on AI without sufficient critical evaluation along with unclear implementation pathways. Survey results of the experts show positive attitudes toward AI, though risks-especially data privacy-remain a concern. Stronger regulation and greater integration of AI into education and training are recommended.