Dickinson: The Valley needs to set up a regional council to oversee AI, data collection

MCALLEN, Texas – A South Texas College economics professor has recommended setting up a Rio Grande Valley regional council to oversee both the management of data produced by artificial intelligence and to coordinate the construction of data centers.

Lyudmyla V. Dickinson is a noted expert on AI, having gained more than 20 professional certifications on the subject.

Former McAllen Mayor Jim Darling responded to Dickinson’s idea by saying the Valley’s cities might be agreeable if they could see a tangible reward for doing so, as they did with the formation of UT-Rio Grande Valley and the merger of the metropolitan planning organizations. 

The discussion on a regional council for AI came about at a forum co-hosted by the Rio Grande Guardian and STC. Titled “Smart Cities, Smarter Economy – The Future of Automation in the Rio Grande Valley,” the forum was held at STC’s Pecan Campus in McAllen. 

Dickinson was a panelist at the forum. Asked whether Valley cities could and should be collaborating on AI, Dickinson answered “definitely,” although she noted that, historically, the cities have largely competed with each other, especially when it comes to economic development.

“With automation technology and AI, we are entering completely new metrics, a completely new economic system as well. A city just standing for itself is not going to work because AI is intelligence, and intelligence doesn’t like any fractional pieces. Intelligence likes unity,” Dickinson said.

“So, we have to get the cities united under one umbrella, especially when we are talking about the Rio Grande Valley’s prosperity. We have a great chance to organize everything ahead of time.”

Mayor Darling was in the audience. In the Q&A section of the program he said he had been working on regionalization for 48 years in the Valley and that work had largely been unsuccessful. He said the two shining examples of regionalization paying off were the mergers of UT-Pan American and UT-Brownsville, and the merging of three metropolitan planning organizations. In both cases, the Valley secured hundreds of thousands of state dollars.

Darling said for the cities to buy in to the concept of a regional council for AI, they would need to be persuaded that they would benefit, like they did with UTRGV and the RGVMPO.

“So my question is, you (the panelists) said you want us to get together as a region on AI. But what is the very tangible value that you can sell to cities so that they’ll understand and get behind AI in order for it be a regional project for us?”

Another panelist, Andy Garcia, president of Allied Consulting Group Texas, answered Darling’s question. He said AI would lead to greater efficiency. As a result, sales tax revenues would increase.

After the forum had finished, the Guardian interviewed Dickinson. She was asked to elaborate on her ideas for a Valley-wide regional council for AI. Here is a video recording of the interview:

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