Request ID: FOI-2900-2324 Date published: 28 November 2023
You asked
Hi there,
This is a freedom of information request.
Please could you release:
1. Details of any initiatives, experiments or trials by TfL of using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) or large language models (LLM) since 2018?
2. Any reports, maps, datasets etc that have been produced as a result of using AI to improve traffic flow or safety? eg, this trial.
We answered
Our ref: FOI-2900-2324 Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 15 November 2023 asking for information about artificial intelligence (AI). Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. To provide the information you have requested would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with requests if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. In this instance, we estimate that the time required to answer your request would exceed 18 hours which, at £25 per hour (the rate stipulated by the Regulations), exceeds the ‘appropriate limit’. Your submitted request is too broad to complete as it would require significant manual review of large numbers of projects, databases and business functions to locate and then extract and collate any information which might fall within the scope of your request. The field of AI covers a broad range of analytic techniques and therefore to identify all work that included such initiatives back to 2018 would take a considerable amount of time to review for even one business area, and would require us to review each business area individually. In addition, the amount of time that it would take to identify and prepare datasets for sharing would also need to be taken into account. To help bring the cost of responding to your requests within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider refining your request to a specific project. Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, TfL does not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request. If you have specific questions relating to these topics we may be more easily able to respond to these via our Press Office <[email protected]> than to a request for any information held. If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal. Yours sincerely, Tahsin Prima FOI Case Officer General Counsel Transport for London
