Testing AI with prompts ranging from potholes to ward representation, Bill says the technology can produce plausible civic analysis, but warns it still needs verification.<\/p>\n
After reading that the chair of the District Social Services Administration Board was thinking they may need to hire a specialist to answer all the requests under Doug Ford\u2019s new Freedom of Information rules, I wondered if we (they) were missing the boat. The same thing might apply to the City of North Bay, but I suspect they already have a FOI specialist. Before we file that FOI request, maybe we ought to be asking AI for the information.<\/p>\n
If you have never tried asking your computer for information, you should be using this free service. Okay, nothing is free, but it will seem that way.<\/p>\n
Our writing group does a monthly challenge where the devious administrator throws out a creative writing challenge, such as: What do goalies, drummers, and novelists have in common? There being no obvious answer in my mind, I asked AI. The reply was: \u201cGoalies, drummers, and novelists are all known for operating in isolation, taking the blame when things go wrong, and maintaining the vital structure and pacing for their respective \u2018teams\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Artificial Intelligence can come up with that, why not pose questions of a political nature? Why not try entering those FOI requests to AI before filing the papers? We know that almost everything that has happened since time immemorial is somewhere on the Web, why not let the search engines find it, apply some analytical algorithms, and give us the answer? Your EV knows how far it is to the next charging station, so one of the AI programs will know the answer to . . .well . . . everything.<\/p>\n
What do potholes, credit cards, and City councillors have in common?<\/p>\n
AI: They all have bills or limits associated with them, they all cause headaches when they are broken, and they all rely on public complaints to get fixed!<\/p>\n
How do daily responsibilities, the mayor\u2019s compensation, and population affect the performance of mayors and councils for cities under 60,000 population?<\/p>\n
What is the rate of property tax\u00a0increases, based on assessment, since 2016, adjusted for Cost of Living in Ontario for the City of North Bay? Use the Rennick method and compare.<\/p>\n
Comparing cities of similar population and geographic size, does the ward system give better electorate satisfaction than representation at large?<\/p>\n
One AI answer: Economic studies, including comprehensive reviews of municipal systems, show that ward-based councils spend between 11.9% and 17.6% more than at-large councils, resulting in higher taxes and municipal debt.<\/p>\n
So, we can get answers from AI, albeit with cautions. Perhaps if we asked AI first, and then, if necessary, filed the FOI requests, we might save staff time at both the DSSAB and City Hall.<\/p>\n
The other area where we might use Artificial Intelligence on the internet is with the Integrity Commissioner use. Any amount of money saved on these inquiries would be a huge plus. Could we have saved thousands of taxpayers’\u00a0money by asking AI if it was okay to buy dog food on the City\u2019s tab? Or could AI have checked Robert\u2019s Rules about meeting conflicts of interest?<\/p>\n
Asking AI about reimbursement over IC cases, AI said: No, municipalities are not legally required to pay for the personal legal costs of councillors facing Integrity Commissioner investigations, though policies vary strictly by municipality. While the municipality completely funds the operational costs of the Integrity Commissioner’s office, an individual councillor’s personal lawyer fees are treated under local discretion. Ouch.<\/p>\n
All this is to say that there is information out there in the ether or in a cloud or wherever. Perhaps we should be making more use of AI to gather our thoughts before filing FOI or complaints about integrity.<\/p>\n
For those interested in creative writing, before seeing what AI said about goalies, drummers, and novelists, I wrote:<\/p>\n
Goalies, drummers, and novelists<\/p>\n
having played in our national game<\/p>\n
what was our national game for men<\/p>\n
the torch now passed more hopefully<\/p>\n
to the professional women hockey players<\/p>\n
and being a defenceman who stopped<\/p>\n
too many pucks meant for the goalies<\/p>\n