AI system
- System
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AI智慧判煙系統 (AI smart smoke-recognition system) with air micro-sensors and surveillance cameras, operated by the Taichung City Environmental Protection Bureau; 36 hotspot monitoring stations as of July 2025 and over 100 AI and sensor sites citywide by September 2025
- Model
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Not assessed
- Release
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Not assessed
- Provider
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Not assessed
- Role
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Not assessed
- Configuration
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Not assessed
- Inputs and outputs
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Not assessed
- Autonomy
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Not assessed
- Workflow
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Fixed AI smoke-recognition cameras and air micro-sensors installed at a known open-burning hotspot after a public complaint, with automatic alerts to inspectors. Inspectors able to reach the site while the fire burned. They could assemble third-party CCTV and dashcam footage when its video could not read the faded plate. Local police (Wuri Precinct Dadu Station) familiar enough with residents to match the recorded build, clothing and gait to a known 74-year-old resident. A legal basis for penalties (Air Pollution Control Act Article 32) and a land manager that could be asked to clear the dump site.
- Human oversight
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Not assessed
- Relation to AI
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The AI smoke-recognition system and micro-sensors supplied the detection that sent inspectors to the burning site. CNA dates it first to 4 July 2025, then repeatedly in July and August. It also supplied the video that recorded the offender. It could not read his faded motorcycle plate. So identification came from private CCTV, dashcam footage and a police officer's recognition of a local resident. The system's contribution is detection and documentation. Removal of the source depended on human investigation. No measured air-quality change or proven counterfactual is reported. So the record sits at protective response with prevention unproven rather than specific harm prevented.
- AI contribution
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The AI smoke-recognition system and micro-sensors supplied the detection that sent inspectors to the burning site. CNA dates it first to 4 July 2025, then repeatedly in July and August. It also supplied the video that recorded the offender. It could not read his faded motorcycle plate. So identification came from private CCTV, dashcam footage and a police officer's recognition of a local resident. The system's contribution is detection and documentation. Removal of the source depended on human investigation. No measured air-quality change or proven counterfactual is reported. So the record sits at protective response with prevention unproven rather than specific harm prevented.
Benefits
- Outcome identifiers
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Not assessed
- Benefit
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a fine of up to NT$100,000
- Category
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Improved Environmental Sustainability
- Status
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Not assessed
- Beneficiary groups
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Society. Organizations.
- Beneficiaries
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Not assessed
- Reach
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Not assessed
- Distribution and access
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Not assessed
- Duration
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Not assessed
- Expected?
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Yes
- Costs and harms
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Not assessed
Measurement
- Studies
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Not assessed
- Study design
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Not assessed
- Measurement
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Not assessed
- Setting and sample
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Not assessed
- Measures
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a fine of up to NT$100,000
- Comparison
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Not assessed
- Results
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a fine of up to NT$100,000
- Additional value from AI
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Not assessed
- Limitations
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Not assessed
- Denominators
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Not assessed
- Materials for replication
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Not assessed
Money
- Kind of value
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fine under Article 32 of the Air Pollution Control Act for the open burning; CTS reports the fine as NT$100,000
- Amount
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Estimate: 新臺幣10萬元以下 (up to NT$100,000)
- Currency and prices
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Not assessed
- Period and unit
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Not assessed
- Realization
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Not assessed
- Recipients and payers
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the 74-year-old burner pays
- Gross or net
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Not assessed
- Included costs
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Not assessed
- Comparison
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Not assessed
- Method
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Not assessed
- Return and payback
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Not assessed
People and places
- Participants
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Operator: Taichung City Government Environmental Protection Bureau (臺中市政府環境保護局).
- Jurisdictions
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Benefit: Taichung,
Taiwan. Operator: Taiwan. - Ownership and control
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Not assessed
- Dependencies
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Not assessed
- Cross-border connections
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Not assessed
- Geopolitical implications
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Not assessed
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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The AI alert must reach staff who can respond while the fire is burning and who have the mandate to enter the site. Identification must not rest on the camera alone. Plate recognition failed here and human evidence-gathering closed the case. The offender must be identifiable and reachable. A stranger with no local ties would likely not have been recognized.
- Replication attempts
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Not assessed
- Later findings
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16 August 2026. By August 2026 the bureau reported nearly 170 AI smoke-detection systems across Taichung, up from 36 stations in July 2025 and over 100 sites in September 2025, with hundreds of open-burning cases caught and NT$1.28 million in fines.
- Availability
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Not assessed
- Institutional decision
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Not assessed
- Grounds
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Not assessed
- Action and result
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Not assessed
- Success criterion
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Not assessed
Evidence
- Source numbers
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AIBD-0147-source-0001–0011
- Citations
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Numbered references below.
- Language
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Not assessed
- Source relationships
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Operator, Independent
- Original evidence
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Not assessed
- Access and versions
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Not assessed
- Supported findings
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Not assessed
- Evidence links
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Not assessed
- Evidence strength
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Not assessed
- Missing evidence
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Not assessed
Grades
- Assessed benefits
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Society. Organizations.
- Depth
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Society: 2. Organizations: 1.
- Reasons
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Society: The EPB says the case removed “a potential pollution source threatening air quality” for residents near Hugan Road in Dadu District. CTS and PTS describe repeated burns at the same spot in February, July and August 2025 next to weeds. No exposure figures or air-quality measurements are reported. So the benefit is material but local and unquantified. Organizations: The EPB and Wuri Precinct police closed a repeat-offender case that the faded plate had stalled. The system's alert and video supplied the inspection trigger and the core evidence. The EPB presents the case as proof that its “smart technology city” enforcement works.
- Observed or intended
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Not assessed
- Rubric
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Not assessed
- Assessor and date
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Not assessed
- Alternative assessments
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Not assessed
- Fill
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Independently reported
Entry details
- Kind
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Not assessed
- Related entries
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Not assessed
- Field
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Environmental protection (air-quality enforcement). Public sector, municipal environmental enforcement.
- Purpose
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The EPB introduced AI smoke-recognition cameras in 2022 to recognize abnormal smoke around the clock at open-burning hotspots. They send automatic alerts so inspectors can locate and stop pollution sources and reduce fire risk. Detecting and recording this roadside burning was that intended use.
- Dates
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Date basis unassessed: 2025 (precision unassessed). Updated: 21 October 2026.
- Stage
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Not assessed
- Version
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SHA-256: 7f516b70e55a…
References
- Other identifiers
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oecd_aim: 2025-09-13-b5dc.
- Category mappings
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Not assessed
- Brief
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Not assessed
- Revisions
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4 revisions. Latest: 21 October 2026.
Sources
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News report Independent author
Su Mu-chun / Central News Agency (2025). AI偵測空污異常 台中男非法焚燒廢棄物遭查獲 [AI detects abnormal air pollution; Taichung man caught illegally burning waste]. CNA, 13 September 2025.
環保局今年7月4日上午8時多，運用科學儀器偵測出
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News report Independent author
Peng Huan-chun / Public Television Service (2025). 台中環保局設AI智慧判煙系統 取締路邊燒垃圾民眾 [Taichung EPB's AI smoke-recognition system catches roadside garbage burner]. PTS News, 13 September 2025.
3月接獲民眾檢舉，大肚區護岸路旁的產業道路常有濃煙
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News report Independent author
Wu Shu-ping and Lo Yi-hsin / TVBS (2025). 空汙老翁「焚燒垃圾」遭AI逮到！74歲獨居翁騎車逃 警1招揪人 [Elderly garbage burner caught by AI; 74-year-old living alone identified by police]. TVBS News, 13 September 2025.
環保局接獲系統通報後立即趕到現場滅火，避免了可能的火災蔓延
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News report Independent author
Chinese Television System / 華視 (2025). 男多次縱火燒廢棄物危害公共安全 「未造成傷亡」只能罰十萬 [Man repeatedly burned waste; with no casualties, only a NT$100,000 fine]. CTS via Yahoo News Taiwan, 13 September 2025.
分別在2月、7月和8月都亂丟廢棄物、還縱火燃燒
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News report Independent author
Tsai Shu-yuan / Liberty Times (2025). 台中大肚區驚見「黑煙衝天」！真相竟是連環縱火犯作祟 [Black smoke over Dadu traced to a serial arsonist]. Liberty Times Net, 13 September 2025.
環保局7、8月以AI智慧判煙系統及空氣微型感測器接連發現
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News report Independent author
Liu Jung-chun / NOWnews (2025). AI神助攻 台中揪出焚燒廢棄物縱火慣犯 [AI assist: Taichung catches habitual waste-burning arsonist]. NOWnews via Yahoo News Taiwan, 13 September 2025.
成功查獲一名長期縱火焚燒廢棄物的行為人，有效消除潛在污染源
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News report Independent author
Chuang Yu-hsuan / CTWANT (2025). AI智慧抓縱火犯！台中大肚異常濃煙曝光驚險追緝 [AI catches arsonist: abnormal smoke in Dadu]. CTWANT, 13 September 2025.
透過系統即時告警，結合民眾熱心通報
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News report Independent author
Liu Jung-chun / NOWnews (2025). 露天燃燒小心被抓包 中市AI盯哨無所遁形 [Open burners beware: Taichung's AI is watching]. NOWnews, 5 July 2025.
自111年起導入AI判煙技術，透過智慧監控、即時通報
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News report Independent author
Taiwan News (2026). Taichung uses AI cameras, drones to crack down on illegal open burning. Taiwan News, 16 August 2026.
it began deploying AI smoke-detecting cameras along with drones in 2022
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Press release Deployer
Taichung City Government Environmental Protection Bureau (2025). 真相只有一個 臺中市多位熱心市民協助環保局與警察局通力合作破獲縱火慣犯 [The truth is one: citizens help the EPB and police crack a serial arsonist]. EPB news release, 13 September 2025.
共同為大肚區市民解決了一起威脅空氣品質的潛在污染源
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Press release Deployer
Taichung City Government (2025). AI成為防災利器 即時通報露天燃燒 中市環保局提醒市民勿觸法 [AI as a disaster-prevention tool: real-time alerts on open burning]. City news release, 5 July 2025.
系統隨即自動發送告警訊息，值勤人員立即派遣稽巡查人員趕赴現場