New York City's transit authority is one of a few US systems experimenting with using sensors and AI to improve track inspections.

Anyone who has rode the New York City subway can tell you that it has a lot of problems, from strange noises to flammable debris on the tracks. Now, as is the solution for everything these days, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is testing how AI could improve the repair process with the help of six Google Pixel phones.

Google and MTA collaborated on a project using Pixel phones to detect subway anomalies. Pixel phones located problem spots 92% of the time, showing promise for future subway monitoring. We've been living with smartphones for so long that it's easy to forget just how complex these devices really are.