Boston Councilor Requests Hearing for Role of AI in Municipal Government
When Boston Councilor Sharon Durkan (Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, Mission Hill) asked her colleagues on Wednesday, March 19, to approve a hearing on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in municipal government, she occasionally paused and tripped over the words of her request.
She clarified that the remarks she made weren’t her own words. AI wrote them for her.
Darkan did this to highlight the point that the City Council needs to consider how AI could affect municipal government operations. She pointed out that many cities have already begun to implement AI to improve ambulance responses or monitor traffic light signals. Darkan also acknowledged that any use of AI would have to consider privacy and racial bias while calming fears that AI would replace all human interactions with the public.
“Not all AI is good. Not all AI is helpful,” she said in an article published by Universal Hub. Darkan pointed in particular to generative AI, in which individuals can ask questions to “a thing that’s having a delusion,” she said. “Generative AI is different than all the other things we can unlock with [AI]: traffic signals, public health.”
Darkan summarized her request by saying that when used appropriately, AI can help people make better decisions, such as municipal union members who need to participate in important discussions. These discussions, she said, need to be “making sure AI is just a tool and not a substitute for human judgment.”
She also noted that the city should consult experts from Northeastern and Boston University for support on the ethical and privacy issues related to AI.
City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune placed Durkan’s hearing request on the council’s committee on city services and information technology to hold at least one hearing on AI.
Watch Durkan submit her hearing request.
