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Officials in Oro-Medonte are trying to get ahead of artificial intelligence (AI).
They recognize the efficiency AI drives but they also realize it’s not without challenges.
During Wednesday’s council meeting, Donna Hewitt, the township’s director of corporate services, delivered a report on the corporate use of AI and presented a draft of the township’s AI policy, which was carried.
“I think each member of council, as well as staff, are very much aware that the use of artificial intelligence is something that is bringing great opportunities from an efficiency perspective,” she said. “But, it is also becoming very evident that there are a series of risks that are associated with its use.
“The purpose of the draft policy is really to establish, for us, our first set of parameters around its proper use,” she added.
She identified five areas of risk that the township considers tantamount:
- protecting personal information
- protecting confidential information
- accuracy
- transparency
- maintaining cybersecurity standards
In her report, Hewitt noted township staff have access to personal information of residents, visitors, staff and members of council. She said it was imperative that this information be protected because inappropriate use could lead to privacy breaches and non-compliance of various laws.
She also pointed out that township staff and council are privy to confidential information and the use of such information in AI platforms could expose the municipality to risk and liability.
“This use would represent a breach of confidentiality policies, non-disclosure agreements and could negatively impact the corporation’s position in litigation matters,” she wrote.
Acknowledging the accuracy of AI is dependent on the data it has access to and the framing of its prompts, Hewitt stressed the importance of human oversight to ensure results are correct and transparent.
“To build public trust it is important that the township documents where and how AI is being used and that the municipality has put measures in place to use AI tools safely,” she said.
The final concern she addressed was cybersecurity.
“Not all software is created the same and from a cybersecurity perspective, we have some fairly strong protocols in place,” she said. “It will be important for us that the systems that we do use are ones that have been vetted through IT and from a records perspective have also been vetted through the clerk’s department from a retention of records and corporate information perspective.”
Hewitt advised council that training will be provided for both staff and council and staff will review the policy on an annual basis.
She admitted an annual review probably wasn’t sufficient.
“In reality, as technology evolves, it will likely need to be changed as we adapt and start to utilize AI more frequently,” she said.
According to the policy, the following are acceptable uses for AI technology:
- automating and streamlining repetitive administrative tasks
- brainstorming initial document drafts (such as emails, reports, memos, policies, job descriptions, correspondence, presentations etc.)
- developing preliminary creative content (such as images, videos, logos, social media posts, designs, mascots etc.)
- supporting data analysis and forecasting
- coding, formula support
- improving and automating service delivery response (chatbots etc.)
The following are prohibited uses for AI technology:
- decision-making without any human oversight or input
- decision-making that impacts a specific individual (such as performance reviews)
- creating work products regarding a sensitive situation (such as a press release regarding an accident; written response to a staff discipline matter)
- any use which violates human rights
- any use which violates existing laws
- any use prohibited by the department/division manager or director
- creation of fake images, audio, video or other that could be mistakenly interpreted by someone to be real (deepfakes)
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