Artificial Intelligence
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Understanding Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The utilization of Artificial Intelligence has seen an uptick in interest for both professional and personal use. Although far from being a novel concept, the emergence of AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini has ushered in a new wave of discussions surrounding the potential of AI as far as its relevant applications in the workplace, and especially with respect to its potential to increase productivity. AI is being profusely discussed in terms of its ability to eventually transform significant aspects of society, such as governance, transportation, healthcare, and others.
The economic impact of AI will be noteworthy. As more organizations, regardless of sector, recognize
the cost savings and efficiency of automating certain tasks, this may benefit workers by allowing repetitive or monotonous duties to be handled by AI, while they focus their attention on more creative projects. In the context of local government, is it crucial that municipal personnel keep an open mind towards exploring the applications of AI, particularly in terms of its potential for modernizing municipal services. Municipal staff should consider how AI can help with expanding the scope of their services, improve the implementation of said services, and looking for ways to increase their efficiency, which may translate to a savings in property tax funds.
Current Utilization of AI in Municipal Government
Several municipalities explored, or expressed an interest, as to how local officials can utilize AI. According to an October 2023 survey by Bloomberg Philanthropies, 96% of mayors across the country have expressed interest in using generative AI. However, the same survey indicated that only 2% of them were actively implementing generative AI. At the same time, 69% reported that they were either exploring or testing the technology for their municipality. When asked what sectors of local government AI might be most useful for, the surveyed Mayors affirmed that they envisioned AI being of most use in the areas of transportation, infrastructure, and public safety.
It’s important to note that while the use of generative AI within municipal government is just starting to take form, the concept of AI utilization in this sphere is not completely novel. For example, predictive AI has already been in use for years within local law enforcement agencies. One manifestation of this is in the form of automatic license plate readers. These readers are powered by the technology of perceptive AI and are used to help law enforcement officials locate stolen vehicles and decode license plates to help license plates might help to advance the investigation in some way.
The potential of AI for Local Governments
As communities have evolved over time, so have municipal governments. Artificial Intelligence contains tremendous potential to improve the lives of the residents within a municipality’s borders. AI may achieve this by improving government service efficiency, expanding the list of the services themselves, streamlining the process of service production, and helping local leaders to make data-informed decisions that maximize improvement for general quality of life. That being said, local governments sometimes lack the resources or the proper guidance required to harness emerging technologies such as AI in a safe and effective manner. The amount of resources currently available for AI from federal and state governments is lacking, and it may be difficult for local officials and administrators to find the resources that are relevant to their work. This handbook will provide guidelines, best practices, sample applications, and risk assessment strategies in order to fill this void and assist with beginning the process of AI adoption and utilization for local governments.
96% of mayors have expressed interest in using generative AI. However, the same survey indicates that only 2% of them were actively implementing generative AI.
Ways AI Can Improve Municipal Government
Generative AI can be used to enhance and accelerate data analysis and decision-making. For example, if you were to receive a data set on crime statistics, equipment utilization, or program usage, and you want to know some basic statistics. You could upload a spreadsheet that contains the data and the AI can provide an analysis, and can even flesh out the subsequent charts and graphs for a visualization.
AI can also be used to reduce the average time that is needed to resolve cybersecurity incidents through use of AI assistants that can provide guidance on alert triage and incident response. John Bacon, partner engineer at Google Cloud, says agencies typically face three key security challenges. The first he describes as “Threat Overload”, which refers to the increasing amount of cybersecurity threats, while their level of sophistication escalates as well. The second entails the “toil” associated with the implementation of how security is currently carried out. There are many burdensome and repetitive manual steps that must be executed as a counter measure. The final challenge represents the “talent gap” which refers to the lack of qualified security professionals to deal with these threats. Generative AI can assist in managing and ameliorating these threats.
Furthermore, AI can be useful in unifying your data on a single platform. One AI cloud-based platform can simply the integration of an organization’s data with AI tools. It can store and organize all structured data (e.g., forms and spreadsheets) and unstructured data (e.g., emails and word documents) into one location so that search engines and Generative AI can access and
Understanding the Risks of AI Use
As more local governments seek to incorporate the use of AI into their procedures and operations, it becomes vital to comprehend the risks that come with the utilization of AI and the principles that govern its responsible use. As AI has advanced, legislation has emerged as a response to try and regulate their use, recognizing the byproduct of risk that AI imposes.
Some of the risks of AI that should be considered by local officials include:
• AI tools are trained on real-world data and are crafted and influenced by real people. Requesting information from an AI tool may carry the veil of objectivity, but ultimately the information they provide can be affected by the biases and opinions of people programming them. Ignorance or indifference to this bias could lead to the perpetuation or amplification of existing societal biases, which in turn could result in ill treatment of vulnerable or disadvantaged communities. The manifestation of this could take form as inequitable resource allocation, discriminatory law enforcement practices, and so on and so forth.
• Generative AI possesses the capacity to provide information at a rapid pace, but in exchange, it carries the risk of producing information that is inaccurate. Depending heavily on AI generated content without checking other sources carries the risk of establishing misinformation as fact. This should especially be considered during times where local governments communicate with their residents.
Examples
Case: The New Haven Police Department
The police chief of New Haven, Karl Jacobson recently proposed that police reports be written using artificial intelligence. The artificial intelligence (AI) would take the form of a new report system, entitled Draft One, which itself is part of a suite of technology and equipment that the New Haven Police Department could potentially purchase from Axon, a police technology company. If successful, the agreement would entail a five-year $7.6 million contract that would also include more dashboard and body cameras, tasers, and software to live stream drone footage, along with other resources.
The proposal was unanimously accepted by the Board of Alders Public Safety Committee at the City Hall on November 19, 2024. New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson described Draft One as a Pilot Program with the goal of decreasing the amount of time that police officers spend writing reports. According to Jacobson, his officers currently spend about 2 to 2.5 hours writing reports on an 8 hour shift, and that the AI technology could reduce that time by 65 percent. He suggests that officers could use the saved time to spend more time patrolling and being visibly present in order to reduce criminal thefts.
Jacobson explained before the Board of Alders (the municipality’s governing body) that the program would begin with ten to fifteen officers utilizing the technology to write the reports, which the AI would generate from uploaded audio sourced from officers’ body cameras. The pilot program would be three to six months and the department would compare the AI reports to human ones written by officers. In a post-hearing interview Jacobson affirmed that every fact generated by the AI is true.
The committee Alders argued that embracing the utilization of AI for this purpose would give their constituents what they want: higher police presence and greater officer accountability. They plan to move forward with the program and return with an update in the next six months.
Despite the benefits of AI in this case example, which entail greater time efficiency within the police department which could translate to reduced crime via higher police presence, it’s important to note that making use of AI in this way also carries its share of potential hazards. The American Civil Liberties Union published a White Paper explaining in depth why they believe police departments should avoid using this technology to generate police reports.
Their report indicated that generative AI, such as ChatGPT is not always correct, and has been shown to fabricate false facts. They are trained and programmed using information across nearly the whole
of the internet, which is helpful in terms of the breadth of information, but also detrimental in that it also absorbs the prejudices and biases that encompass it. Even excluding an explicit error, an AI could still “spin” something in a subtle way that could go bypass an officer’s perception. The implementation of AI is still novel in this respect, and it’s important that the public understands the implications of its use for this specific purpose so that a municipality can make an informed decision on whether they believe it will be good for their community.
They also noted that forcing police officers to explain the reasoning for their use of discretionary power in writing serves as a way to remind them of the legal limits of their authority. That justification for things such as stops, frisks, searches, and consent searches, are also reviewed by their supervisors, who use that to confirm those limits or explain to officers what might be demonstrated as a gap in their knowledge. Shifting to AI drafted reports would remove this accountability within police departments.
New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson
AI Application in Local Government
The use of AI in the governmental sphere are becoming increasingly more common. According to a survey from the Center for Digital Government from 2022, the majority of agencies at the local and state level either currently, or plan to use, chatbots in the near future. Originally designed to answer specific questions from an FAQ, chatbots have evolved and can now process and answer a much broader range of answers. Modern chatbots are capable of using information specific to a jurisdiction in order to provide more tailored responses. AI is also helpful in the realm of digital tools. For example, the city of San Jose uses a real-time audio transcription that automatically translates to other languages during city council meetings. Other AI tools can provide speech-to-text or image-to-speech conversions to make resources more accessible to people with reading, visual, or cognitive disabilities.
AI can be used to provide traffic analysis to improve traffic flow and reduce CO2 emissions. The tools used to achieve this include predictive road maintenance, identifying inefficient signal timings, optimizing bus routes, and enforcing parking and speed limits. An AI traffic project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy was completed in Chattanooga, Tennessee on a targeted route. The result was a 32% reduction in traffic delays.
AI has been used been used for maintenance and classification of municipal water infrastructure. Examples include predicting pipe failures, smart irrigation systems, and automated inventories of service lines. There is currently a commercial AI tool that utilizes geographic information system (GIS) data, historical pipe failure records, and soil conditions in order to identify pipes that are at risk of failing or that may contain harmful substances or materials. As these tools become increasingly common and accepted, it’s important to elevate community involvement into their application.
Guidelines on Generative AI for Local Government
Generative AI tools are built by training a sophisticated algorithm called a Large Language Model (LLM) on a very large volume of data from the internet and other sources. This machine learning algorithm is designed to find patterns within the data to predict what outcome satisfies a given question or “prompt.” They are trained not only on text data but also images, code, and videos. They also use the information provided in the prompt by the user to train their algorithm further. The output of these tools is usually text but can also be images, videos, or files. The underlying algorithms used in generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot may also be integrated “under the hood” of other software.
The most significant takeaway to remember is that Generative AI is a tool. This is the same if autocorrect alters the meaning of your text; you are still responsible for the final content. The technology is a tool that does not excuse or replace your judgment or accountability. Therefore, make sure that you fact-check and review all content generated by AI.
It is a best practice to treat AI-generated content as rough drafts. AI is not perfect and often makes mistakes, responsibility falls upon you to correct its errors. Furthermore, be clear and transparent that your content has been produced by AI when you decide to utilize it. For example, you could insert the following disclaimer: “Parts of this document were drafted by GPT/Gemini/etc. and reviewed by the author. The author takes full responsibility for the content of this document.”
Finally, you should not share private or confidential information with AI in the prompts that you provide to it. AI can be a helpful tool if used responsibly.
Generative AI is a tool, and you are responsible for the outcomes of your tools.
Example Use Case of AI
Below is just one example utilization of AI for municipal governance:
Question: “Could you give me a template for a Municipal Job Posting for the position of Director of Public Works? This would be for a Municipality in Connecticut. Outline the typical qualifications like years of ex-
Position Title: Director of Public Works
Department: Public Works
Location: [Insert Municipality Name, State, and Address]
Type of Position: Full-Time / Exempt
Salary Range: [Insert Salary Range]
Overview:
perience, any necessary/recommended certifications, hard and soft skills, etc.”
Chat GPT: “Here’s a comprehensive template for a Municipal Job Posting for a Director of Public Works in a Connecticut municipality:”
The Municipality of [Insert Municipality Name] is seeking an experienced, dynamic, and highly skilled professional to serve as its Director of Public Works. This key leadership position oversees the planning, organization, and management of all Public Works functions, including roads, parks, facilities maintenance, fleet management, solid waste, recycling, stormwater systems, and related services. This position plays a vital role in maintaining and improving the community’s infrastructure and public assets.
Essential Responsibilities:
• Develop, implement, and manage operational plans, budgets, and programs for the Public Works Department.
• Direct and oversee all departmental divisions, including roads and highways, fleet services, parks and grounds maintenance, stormwater management, and solid waste and recycling.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulations related to public works functions, including environmental and stormwater management (e.g., MS4 compliance).
• Oversee capital improvement projects, infrastructure rehabilitation, and construction management, ensuring timely completion within budget.
• Supervise department personnel, including recruitment, training, development, and performance evaluations.
• Manage vendor and contractor relationships; oversee bids and ensure quality performance.
• Collaborate with municipal officials, boards, and commissions to develop infrastructure-related policies and strategic initiatives.
• Serve as the community liaison for public works matters, addressing resident inquiries, complaints, and emergencies.
• Prepare and present reports, proposals, and updates to municipal leadership, boards, and commissions.
• Maintain updated records, data, and systems for reporting on department operations.
Minimum Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Public Administration, Business Administration, or a related field. A Master’s degree is preferred.
• A minimum of 7–10 years of progressive experience in public works, municipal operations, or a related field, with at least 5 years in a management or supervisory role
• [Optional] Possession of a valid Professional Engineer (PE) license in Connecticut is highly desirable.
• Valid Connecticut driver’s license.
Preferred Certifications & Knowledge:
• Certification from the American Public Works Association (APWA) or similar organization.
• Knowledge of stormwater management practices, including familiarity with the Connecticut MS4 General Permit
• Familiarity with applicable software tools, such as GIS, project management, and fleet management systems.
Key Skills & Abilities:
Hard Skills:
• Extensive knowledge of public works systems, including engineering principles, road maintenance, water/stormwater infrastructure, and fleet operations.
• Budget development and financial management expertise.
• Capital project management skills, including scheduling, procurement, and quality assurance.
Soft Skills:
• Leadership and team-building capabilities to inspire departmental staff.
• Excellent communication skills to engage with residents, elected officials, and internal teams.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities to address complex challenges.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines effectively.
• Collaborative mindset for working with diverse stakeholders and departments.
Work Environment & Physical Requirements:
• Work is performed primarily in an office setting, with occasional field visits to inspect project sites or respond to emergencies.
• Requires availability during non-standard hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, particularly during emergencies (e.g., severe weather events).
Application Instructions:
To apply, please submit the following to [Insert Email Address] by [Insert Deadline]:
1. A cover letter outlining your qualifications and interest in the role.
2. A detailed resume.
3. [Optional] A list of professional references.
[Insert Municipality Name] is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
Responsible AI Use for Local Governments
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into local government operations, it is crucial to understand both the potential risks and the principles of responsible use. Laws and proposed legislation to govern AI technologies and their use continue to evolve at a rapid pace. This section outlines key considerations for ethical AI implementation in municipal settings.
This infokit contains guides and resources from around the country on how to work with and protect your municipality from the promise and pitfalls of AI.
For more information, click the link below: https://cloudshare.ccm-ct.org/index.php/s/7F9OZRfVf5RYXp3
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