Fresno City Manager Georgeanne White stated that the city is being held captive by private companies that create software and artificial intelligence (AI) crucial to the city’s core functions. This concern was raised during a budget hearing last month when Councilmember Miguel Arias questioned the costs of using AI.

City’s Reliance on AI

The city’s use of AI has been growing, with employees using AI products for work purposes for years. However, there is no formal policy establishing guardrails for how AI can and cannot be used. City leaders are not aware of the full costs of AI use, and there is a lack of understanding of how AI impacts decision-making.

A recent incident involving the use of OpenAI’s ChatGPT by city employees led to the company requesting payment for an enterprise subscription. The city blocked the use of ChatGPT and instructed employees to use CoPilot, a Microsoft Office tool, instead.

Need for AI Policy

David Krueger, an assistant professor at the University of Montreal, emphasized the importance of having policies on AI use in the workplace. He stated that AI poses security and privacy threats and can perpetuate biases. Krueger recommended that governments keep a record of AI use, bar AI products that leak private data, and ensure employees are aware of AI’s limitations.

Original reporting: Fresnoland — read the source article.