Agenda item

The Chair welcomed the Mayor and Head of ICT and Digital to the meeting and invited them to deliver their presentation.

As part of the presentation the following points were raised:

•         Artificial Intelligence (AI) was part of wider growth in emerging technology and there was a rapid growth in AI usage.

•         The use of AI introduced new risks and responsibilities.

•         AI could be leveraged to support productivity and service improvement, such as repetitive tasks and to reduce demand on some services.

•         AI needed to be used transparently and with accountability.

•         The Council had an AI policy in place which provided clear guidelines for AI’s safe, ethical and responsible use across the Council. 

•         The policy also ensured the use of AI was lawful, fair and transparent which meant keeping track of how it was used.

•         The need to be accountability in its use to ensure that any decisions taken were not reliant on AI. As such, there was a need to ensure the Council only used approved AI tools with all outputs reviewed by a human.

•         It was important that staff used AI confidently and responsibly. Doing this would realise several benefits including adherence to Data Protection principles, improved productivity and supplier compliance.

•         In terms of next steps, there would be continuous monitoring of emerging technologies and further investigations of tools on the market. 

•         A development of mandatory staff training was in progress and was likely to be implemented in March 2026.

•         The Council would also be engaging with new and existing suppliers in the coming year.

The Chair thanked the Head of ICT and Digital for her presentation and invited question from Members.

A Member queried if there was a list of approved AI tools. It was commented that some AI tools were already within the Microsoft environment, such as CoPilot, Chat and Magic Notes. It was also stated that it was better to channel the use of AI tools so they, and the data they used, was managed appropriately and the AI policy helped to do this.

It was stated there was a lot of technology that could assist Council processes, such as in Adult Social Care. There was also a distinction to be made between AI and tools that assisted with processing.

A Member commented that, due to its potential, a specific session for Members on the use of AI would be beneficial.

A Member queried if there was a way to quantify the efficiencies AI could bring. The Mayor stated that AI was not intended to replace staff, but instead to speed up processes while maintaining human control.

A Member queried if work on AI would cover Chatbots. It was clarified that Chatbots, when used with the public facing website, would be provided with a knowledge base which would speed up response times for common enquiries. This would need to be tested before being rolled out.

A Member queried what would be required from an AI supplier. It was stated that any provider would need to work within requirements set by the Council and that the controls set by IT would have to be adhered to. It was also commented there were lots of vendors on the market. As such the Council would need to adopt a holistic, as the Council needed to develop and grow the product.

The Member further queried how Members could be involved in this process. The Mayor stated that Executive would be considering other strands of the digital strategy which tied in with the Council Plan. There was a hope that pre-decision scrutiny would be involved in this.

A conversation took place regarding the need for a joined-up approach to the Council’s IT systems, with the Planning Portal and Councillor Gateway cited as examples. It was commented that the AI policy contributed to this, but further work was required regarding IT’s ownership of those systems.

A Member stated that the use of AI could speed up decision making in the Council which may allow Councillors to spend more time working with members of the public.

The Chair queried how the Council was safeguarding against external vendors potentially submitting AI generated reports that may not be fit for purpose yet cost the Council money.  It was stated this could be captured as part of the supply and compliance process which would include data integrity. It was also stated that, despite emerging technologies, it was important the human involvement remained.

A conversation took place about Members use of emails on personal devices and how this worked. A Member also suggested several amendments to the AI policy which the Mayor had delegated authority to enact.

ORDERED

1.      That a report be brought back to OSB within one year of the meeting to provide an update on the progress of AI’s use in the Council’s work.

2.      That the information presented be noted.