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The City of Ottawa is developing projects to use artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up hiring and digital mapping, though management says it’s not about replacing workers with technology.
Kyla Weir, an information technology program manager at the city, said some of the projects are more advanced than others. But she told councillors that thousands of city workers are already using AI, and there are hopes to drive that even further.
“We are doing this everywhere and we have plans to keep the creativity, the innovation and the responsible implementation going,” she said.
Weir detailed two AI projects that are currently in development. On hiring, she said the city is looking to use AI to screen resumés for high-demand jobs.
“Sometimes when we post a job at the city — not always — we will get hundreds of applicants,” she said. “This is a tool that helps us quickly screen through to candidates that are most worthwhile.”
The city already has a Google Maps-style SUV known as the GATsmobile that drives around with a roof-mounted camera to map city traffic infrastructure. It’s now looking at using AI to go through the footage.
Weir said the systems can identify streetlights and signs in the footage “so a person doesn’t have to go through that manually.”
Technology ‘not replacing’ workers
Weir explained that city office workers already have access to an AI in Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel. More than 3,200 staff members are already using Microsoft’s web-based AI Copilot to work faster.Â
Together, they’ve submitted more than 114,000 prompts.
“It helps people find information and draft communications, which may feel like an understatement, but if I reflect back on my career at the city, that is probably 95 per cent of what I do,” she said.
Even so, Weir said saving all that work doesn’t mean city office workers have become redundant.
“We have enabled our people and we’re not replacing them,” she said.
Weir also used AI to generate a list of other projects that might interest councillors, according to their expressed priorities. It highlighted efforts to use AI to review building permits to shorten delays and to analyze surveys conducted for public consultation.
Those projects are even less advanced than the mapping and hiring tools. They aren’t even in development, but Weir said staff are considering them.
City manager Wendy Stephanson told councillors the city is working on a framework to guide responsible use of AI, and expand it. It’s expected early next year.