Yoshi Manale is a seasoned local government administrator, having served in many management capacities in both local and state governments in the United States. He is currently the city manager for a mountain community in New Hampshire, USA.

  • The problem: How might local governments utilise new AI tools such as ChatGPT to help provide new services and improve engagement toward their residents?
  • Why it matters: AI tools such as ChatGPT are rapidly changing how businesses and people interact.
  • The solution: There are many opportunities for AI to streamline information and workflows for local governments; this article will describe how they might be used in this new era of artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can revolutionise how local governments operate, interact with residents and become more efficient, effective and responsive to the needs of their communities. From automating responses to common inquiries, generating reports, improving employee/resident engagement and providing information to the public, AI tools can help city employees move mundane and regular tasks to the responsibility of online technology.

There are many opportunities to streamline information and workflows to an artificially intelligent system.

One such tool readily available today is ChatGPT. This language generation model is an AI assistant that studies everything anyone writes and will answer any written request you make. It is essentially a more productive version of Google, with the tool giving you an answer to your question in written form. It can do everything from writing a poem or letter to basic coding and algorithms.

How can AI help local governments?

There are many opportunities to streamline information and workflows to an artificially intelligent system. Here are a few examples that municipal leaders can look toward using AI for:

  • Training a language generation model, such as ChatGPT, on a dataset of common questions and answers. Officials can use the model combined with an integrated chatbot in their website to automatically respond to repetitive common inquiries.
  • An AI tool can generate reports and other written documents. For example, a city council could use ChatGPT to generate automated minutes of meetings, complete with citations and additional relevant information, such as links to topics and documents cited by the council during the meeting. This can save staff time and ensure that information is presented consistently and accurately. Or the AI tool can write executive summaries of long, complex memos and reports, summarising complex reports into more manageable summaries.
  • Many local governments in the United States receive a high volume of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. They are requests from citizens for documents or communications regarding a broad area of topics, often onerous and broad in their submissions. Using AI to review and redact sensitive information automatically saves thousands of dollars in legal fees and countless hours of staff time. As a result, local governments can speed up the process and free up staff for more critical tasks.
  • Automated messaging can be easily programmed and written with AI, including basic press releases, emails, and other promotional items about events and meetings.
  • The use of language generation models will create an opportunity for local governments to automate much of their direct response and interaction with their residents, keeping them up to date on current issues and topics in almost real time instead of depending on staff to write up and distribute information. In addition, AI can automatically update social media accounts, providing more transparency and accountability.
  • AI tools can also help improve HR operations' efficiency and effectiveness by automating repetitive tasks, generating reports and providing accurate, up-to-date information to employees. For example, an AI-powered performance management tool can help HR managers to track employee performance and identify areas for improvement. By analysing data on employee productivity, attendance and feedback, AI can help HR managers to identify patterns and trends that can inform decision-making and improve performance.
  • AI can help government procurement officials to ensure compliance with procurement laws and regulations. By automating tasks such as tracking procurement contracts and ensuring compliance with procurement rules, AI can help to reduce the risk of non-compliance and protect the government from legal issues.

AI tools such as ChatGPT are evolving every day. As more users experiment and understand their use, it increases the opportunity for the public sector to use those tools to benefit their residents. By automating repetitive tasks, generating reports, and providing up-to-date information to residents, AI can help local governments better serve the needs of citizens. AI will change how we work, and it is exciting to see where that will take us.

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