City councillors approved an AI policy in the workplace at a city council meeting Monday.
City of Windsor administration stated they created an AI Strategic Plan to ensure "privacy protection, cybersecurity safeguards, transparency, bias mitigation, and human oversight into all AI initiatives."
"I think this is a great step. I think it's a start of a conversation, not the end," said Councillor Frazier Fathers. "I think the key thing around this is making sure there's a line of sight for us and for the community around what is and isn't happening so that there can be honest conversations about where and how AI is being used across the corporation."
An internal survey of senior management confirmed that staff already use artificial intelligence for summarizing content creation, automation, decision-support applications, data analytics, and exploratory applications.
"Part of this is just looking at how we can operate more efficiently as a city," said Mayor Drew Dilkens. "We know AI is a tool that helps people work smarter and takes care of a lot of those repetitive tasks."
Council recommended the review of the policy on a yearly basis because of the rapid evolution of technology and artificial intelligence.
"Undoubtedly, the policy approved by City Council today will change as the landscape changes in the AI world over time," said Dilkens. "I think even a year from now, five years from now, the landscape is going to change and our policy will have to adjust accordingly."
Dilkens said the policy will not change anything about how residents or businesses interact with the city, stating they would "evolve as those tools change" and "consider how they would use those tools to make sure we are operating efficiently as a city."
**this story was written by Lexi Saldana. Lexi is a student in the Fanshawe College journalism program, and is currently doing an internship with WindsorNewsToday.ca
