Agenda item

A presentation was provided to Members by the ICT Transformation Manager on Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The key points were as follows:

• AI was becoming part of mainstream business application, including Microsoft 365 Copilot and other automation tools.
• The Council was required to ensure that its use was controlled, transparent and compliant.
• AI use within the Council was limited, governed and mainly used to support productivity and administration.
• Key messages included that AI was becoming part of everyday business systems and that its use would continue to grow.
• The Council’s current use of AI was controlled and primarily through Microsoft Copilot and limited automation.  AI was not being used for autonomous decision making. 
• Staff remained responsible for checking and validating AI-generated output.
• The Council had an AI acceptable use policy in place to manage governance, data protection, bias, transparency and accountability.
• Supplier use of AI was currently limited, although many suppliers were exploring future AI functionality. The current risk position was described as manageable and controlled but requiring continued monitoring.

In summary, the Council had a controlled approach with limited use and focused mainly on productivity.  The key challenge would be to ensure that governance, data protection, equality and procurement controls were in place as AI use increased in supplier systems and Council services.

After consideration of the presentation, Members raised the following:

·         Some Members felt that the Council’s approach to the use of AI seemed cautious compared to other Councils.  Examples of AI use in other Local Authorities included chatbots to improve waiting times and data analysis for planning applications.  The comments were noted.

·         Members noted the 22 licenses purchased by the Council which gave a more in-depth experience of AI.  Members requested details of who had been given access to the licences, if access was fairly distributed to staff who could benefit from the licenses, if the Council were getting value for money and how the use was measured.  Members suggested that the Council could undertake a simple internal audit by emailing staff to request details on the use of AI.  – The ICT Transformation Manager advised that the licenses had been split amongst individual staff members and not limited to certain service areas or Senior Managers, however, the licenses could be reallocated if required.  Feedback was positive and seemed were being well utilised, with staff keen to retain access.  Members were informed that with only a small number of licenses purchased, the cost was relatively low.  It was explained that productivity measurement was difficult to evaluate as the licenses were used for various tasks such as administrative use and actions required for meetings.  The Assistant Director Corporate Services and Transformation informed Members that the cost of 22 licences was approximately £4,000 annually and expressed the view that use was popular and likely to increase and the balance between caution and opportunity would need to be monitored closely. She also advised that a robust way to measure usage could be through the staff survey, as these tracked response rates and also detailed where within the organisation they were received.

·         A Member raised climate change implications as detailed within the report and suggested that for the purposes of LGR, the impacts of the usage of AI should be investigated further and risks mitigated.  The comment was noted.

RESOLVED that the Use of Artificial Intelligence report be noted.