[00:00:02]
GOOD EVENING EVERYONE, OR AFTERNOON
UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING.
WITH THE QUORUM BEING PRESENT, I WANTED A CALL THIS AFTERNOON'S AUGUST 6TH, 2026, ROUND TABLE MEETING OF THE CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL TO ORDER.
THE PURPOSE OF TODAY'S MEETING IS TO DISCUSS THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE'S ONGOING AND FUTURE WORK, AND USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO IMPROVE SERVICES, INCLUDING COMPARATIVE EXAMPLES, WHILE ENSURING ANY AI USE ALIGNS WITH CITY VALUES, COMPLIANCE WITH LEGAL AND PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS AND BENEFITS, BOTH EMPLOYEES AND THE PUBLIC.
THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS
[ROLL CALL]
A ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS PRESENT.ABSENT VICE MAYOR, PRESENT PRESENT, COUNCILOR FLAHERTY.
PRESENT, COUNCILLOR SABRINA WHEELER.
PRESENT, PRESENT, COUNCILLOR ZUI, ABSENT MAYOR SIDIKI.
THAT'S FIVE MEMBERS PRESENT, AND FOUR RECORDED AS ABSENT PER CHAPTER TWO OF THE ACTS OF 2025, ADOPTED BY THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL COURT AND APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR.
THE CITY IS AUTHORIZED TO USE REMOTE PARTICIPATION AT MEETINGS OF THE CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL.
YOU CAN ALSO VIEW THE MEETING VIA THE CITY'S OPEN MEETING PORTAL OR ON THE CITY'S CABLE, CHANNEL 22.
THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC COMMENT TODAY.
IF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WOULD LIKE TO SUBMIT WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS, THEY CAN EMAIL THEM TO CITY CLERK@CAMBRIDGEMA.GOV.
SO WITH THAT, THE ORDER OF BUSINESS WILL BE,
[COMMUNICATIONS FROM OTHER CITY OFFICERS]
WE WILL, I'LL HAVE SOME BRIEF OPENING REMARKS, UH, AND THEN I'LL PASS IT TO THE CITY MANAGER, AND THEN WE'LL, UM, HAVE A PRESENTATION FROM THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER OF, AND, UH, THEN WE'LL GO FROM THERE.SO, AND THEN AS WE GET IN DISCUSSION, I'LL LAY SOME KIND OF GROUND RULES ON HOW TO DO THAT DISCUSSION.
BUT I WANNA THANK EVERYONE FOR JOINING TODAY.
UH, I KNOW IT'S BEEN A BUSY WEEK, SO I APPRECIATE EVERYONE BEING HERE.
UH, WE KNOW THAT AI IS, UH, RAPIDLY CHANGING HOW WE LIVE, WORK, AND ACCESS INFORMATION.
IT'S ALSO CHANGING HOW GOVERNMENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE THINKING ABOUT SERVICE DELIVERY FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
I THINK THE QUESTION IS NO LONGER WHETHER AI WILL HAVE AN IMPACT.
THE QUESTION BEFORE IS HOW WE CAN USE THESE TOOLS, UH, TO BETTER SERVE OUR RESIDENTS.
CAMBRIDGE IS UNIQUELY POSITIONED TO HAVE THIS CONVERSATION.
WE'RE HOME TO WORLD CLASS UNIVERSITIES, GROUND BANKING, RESEARCH, INNOVATIVE STARTUPS, AND COMPANIES THAT ARE HELPING SHAPE THE FUTURE OF AI.
AND THROUGHOUT OUR HISTORY, WE KNOW CAMBRIDGE HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF SO MUCH INNOVATION.
AND SO TODAY WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO NOT ONLY SUPPORT THAT INNOVATION, BUT ALSO TO DEMONSTRATE HOW IT CAN BE APPLIED RESPONSIBLY IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
SO I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT, UH, KIND OF THE PRESENTATION TODAY.
WE WILL SEE ALL THE PRACTICAL IMPLICA APPLICATIONS OF AI.
UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF CITIES ACTIVELY USING AI, AND WE'LL SEE HOW, EVEN IN OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT, HOW WE'RE USING AI AT THE MOMENT.
UH, AND SO I'M EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
UH, AND SO I THINK TODAY'S DISCUSSION, UM, WILL GET A LOT OF, UH, INFORMATION TO THINK ABOUT.
UM, I ENCOURAGE THE CITY COUNCIL TO, UH, REALLY ASK AS MANY QUESTIONS, UH, AS THEY WANT, UM, AND TO REALLY THINK ABOUT HOW, UH, WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THE USE OF AI.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, UH, I'LL PASS IT TO, UH, THE CITY MANAGER.
UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH, MAYOR SIDIKI.
UM, SHOULD WE DO, SHOULD WE DO QUICK INTRODUCTIONS? UM, SO, UM, SO MAYBE WE'LL JUST GO AROUND, UH, BUT I'M IAN.
I'M THE CITY MANAGER, UH, JAY FLASCO, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER.
JANE KERSEY, CHIEF OF STRATEGY.
BENNER, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER FOR FISCAL, UH, PARDY SAFARI, UH, DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY DEVELOPMENT AT CTD SAMBO SIDIKI, MAYOR EVAN LINSKY, LEGISLATIVE AID TO THE MAYOR.
UH, COUNCILMAN MCGOVERN, COUNCILLOR, SABRINA WHEELER, MAALIK.
I'M A SUMMER FELLOW IN THE CITY MANAGER OFFICE.
UM, AND JUST WANNA, UH, SAY THANK YOU, ESPECIALLY TO MATT, WHO, UH, HAS DONE A LOT OF PULLING, UH, MUCH OF THIS TOGETHER AND COORDINATING EFFORTS ACROSS THE CITY OVER THE SUMMER.
SO WE'VE BEEN REALLY GRATEFUL FOR, UH, HIS WORK.
UM, AND I THINK THIS IS YOUR LAST WEEK.
SO, UM, SO WE'RE, WE'RE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR TIME WITH US.
UM, I THINK, UH, MAYOR SIDIKI, YOU DID A GREAT JOB OPENING THIS UP.
UM, I THINK WE'VE PROVIDED JUST A QUICK EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, UH, BUT WE'LL KIND OF MOVE STRAIGHT INTO THE CONTENT.
[00:05:01]
I REALLY THINK THIS IS, UH, AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION FOR US ALL TO START.UM, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE, WE HAVE BRUSHED ALONGSIDE OF DURING MANY CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS.
UM, AND, AND THIS IS AN AREA WHERE, UM, I THINK THE CITY HAS LAGGED IN TERMS OF BEING A EARLY ADOPTER OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
UM, AND THAT'S TRUE IN GENERAL OF GOVERNMENTS.
UM, BUT I THINK WE ARE AT AN A POINT IN TIME WHERE THE SPEED WITH WHICH AI TOOLS ARE BEING DEVELOPED IS ACCELERATING.
UM, THERE IS SO MUCH POTENTIAL, UH, FOR THEM TO HAVE AN IMPACT, A POSITIVE IMPACT ON SOCIETY.
AND THERE'S SO MUCH POTENTIAL THAT WE'RE ALREADY SEEN, UH, WHERE THERE ARE A LOT OF FEARS AND CONCERNS OVER HOW AI TOOLS ARE BEING DEPLOYED, UM, AND THE BROADER IMPLICATIONS ON SOCIETY.
UM, I THINK SLIDE THREE IS JUST AN IMPORTANT LEVEL SETTING SLIDE IN TERMS OF, WHEN WE SAY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, IT REALLY DOES ENCOMPASS A LOT OF DIFFERENT UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGIES AND USE CASES.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT AI AS CHAT, GBT OR CLAWED, AND A LOT OF THOSE USES OF GENERATIVE AI.
SO ACTUALLY CREATING NEW CONTENT, UH, USING THESE TOOLS.
UM, BUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THAT BROADER UMBRELLA, THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF AI, SOME OF WHICH HAVE BEEN IN USE FOR A MUCH LONGER PERIOD OF TIME, FROM MACHINE LEARNING TO NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING, COMPUTER VISION, ROBOTICS, AND PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS.
UM, WE'LL GET INTO SOME OF THIS IN TERMS OF THE USE CASES.
UM, BUT SOME OF THESE APPLICATIONS HAVE BEEN IN USE, UM, BY THE CITY FOR SOME TIME, AND WE'VE SEEN THEM IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT, UH, PRIVATE SECTOR TOOLS.
UM, AND, AND THE LEADING EDGE LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS, LLMS, ARE KIND OF WHERE THE, WHERE THAT, THAT NEW USE CASE IS COMING OUT.
UM, BUT THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS THAT AI CAN BE DEPLOYED.
UM, ON SLIDE FOUR, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, WE'VE TRIED TO THINK ABOUT HOW TO ORGANIZE, HOW WE HAVE A DISCUSSION AND, AND HOW THE CITY PLAYS A ROLE IN THIS CONVERSATION AND DEPLOYMENT OF AI TECHNOLOGY.
UM, AND JUST AS AN INITIAL, UH, FRAMING, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THREE AREAS.
UM, I THINK THE FIRST IS JUST TO REALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE IS SUCH DEEP CONCERN OVER THE DEPLOYMENT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FROM THE STRUCTURE OF THESE COMPANIES AND HOW THEY ARE CONCENTRATING POWER, UM, TO THE WAYS THAT THESE TOOLS ARE USED.
UH, THERE'S CONCERNS OVER SO MANY DIFFERENT PIECES.
AND ACTUALLY HAVING THIS ENGAGEMENT AND CONVERSATION, BOTH WITH THE CITY COUNCIL AND WITH OUR COMMUNITY, IS GOING GOING TO BE AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD, UM, TOWARD BOTH HOW THE CITY USES AND DEPLOYS AI, UM, AND ALSO TOWARD ULTIMATELY, UH, THE SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS OF THESE TOOLS.
UM, THE SECOND BIG AREA IS HOW WE WOULD ACTUALLY USE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
HOW DO CITY STAFF DEPLOY THESE ACROSS DEPARTMENTS TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY? AND I THINK THE THIRD IS TO RECOGNIZE, YOU KNOW, FROM A ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE, AND FROM THE QUESTION OF LIKE, CAMBRIDGE, AS ONE OF THE HEARTS OF INNOVATION WITHIN THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD, A LOT OF THESE TOOLS ARE BEING DEVELOPED, USED, APPLIED IN CAMBRIDGE, AND IN FACT, THAT IS ONLY GOING TO GROW OVER TIME.
BUT EVEN THOUGH MANY OF THE FOUNDATIONAL MODELS ARE MOSTLY DEVELOPED IN SILICON VALLEY AND SAN FRANCISCO, WE ARE SEEING A LOT OF TECH COMPANIES MAKE THEIR HOME HERE.
IT IS GOING TO BE A DRIVER OF OUR LOCAL ECONOMY.
AND THAT'S ALSO WHY THIS CONVERSATION IS SO IMPORTANT FOR US AS A COMMUNITY.
UM, I'VE SORT OF REMARKED THERE'S OFTEN TOO GREATER A DISTANCE BETWEEN CITY HALL IN KENDALL SQUARE, EVEN THOUGH YOU CAN WALK IN ABOUT 15 MINUTES BETWEEN THE TWO.
UM, BUT I THINK THIS KIND OF BRINGS TOGETHER THE NEED FOR US TO ACTUALLY HAVE MORE OF ONE INTEGRATED CONVERSATION ABOUT THESE TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE COMING OUT.
UM, SLIDE SIX, AS WE GET INTO SOME OF THE QUESTIONS OF HOW WE ENGAGE WITH THE COMMUNITY, I THINK WE FELT AS WE WERE HAVING THIS DISCUSSION INTERNALLY, THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE HOW MANY CONCERNS ARE COMING OUT AND HOW QUICKLY THOSE CONCERNS ARE INCREASING.
UM, YOU KNOW, EVEN, EVEN IN THE LAST WEEK, WE'VE SEEN MORE REPORTING ABOUT PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS ABOUT DATA CENTERS.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE MOSTLY TALKING ABOUT THE TOOLS AND HOW THEY'RE APPLIED.
THOSE TOOLS ARE BEING POWERED BY AN IMMENSE GROWTH OF DATA CENTERS AROUND THE COUNTRY.
AND THAT PUBLIC SENTIMENT HAS SHIFTED RAPIDLY FROM, YOU KNOW, 40% OF THE COUNTRY HAVING DEEP CONCERNS ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION AND PACE OF DATA CENTERS TO, I THINK NOW 70% OF PEOPLE ARE SAYING, WE DON'T WANT A DATA CENTER IN OUR, IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND SO I THINK IT'S TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE TECHNOLOGY IS MOVING REALLY QUICKLY, BUT PEOPLE HAVE THESE DEEP
[00:10:01]
CONCERNS ABOUT JOB LOSSES, PRIVACY, THE IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT, UM, BIAS AND MISINFORMATION BEING, UH, BEING EXACERBATED BY THESE TOOLS, THE IMPACT ON CYBERSECURITY, THAT DEPLOYMENT OF REALLY POWERFUL TOOLS IN EVERYBODY'S HANDS CAN HAVE.AND ALSO JUST A FEAR OF HOW QUICKLY THE WORLD IS CHANGING AND WHETHER PEOPLE CAN KEEP UP.
UM, SO I THINK THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO STEP IN AND ENGAGE WITH THOSE CONCERNS, UM, AND BE PART OF SHAPING THAT CONVERSATION.
UH, AND THE NEXT SLIDE ON SLIDE SEVEN, UH, WE'RE JUST SHOWING A SMALL SNAPSHOT OF THE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY ALREADY PUTTING OUT INFORMATION, CREATING PLACES FOR, UH, PEOPLE TO BOTH LEARN ABOUT AI, UH, ENGAGE AND USE THESE TOOLS AND ALSO HAVE DISCUSSION.
SO, UM, THE LIBRARY HAS REALLY BEEN ON THE FOREFRONT, UM, OFFERING INTRODUCTIONS TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, SAFE AI USE, RESPONSIBLE AI USE, AND ALSO HELPING JOB SEEKERS USE THESE TOOLS WHERE, YOU KNOW, IN TODAY'S WORLD, A LOT OF RESUME SCREENING, UNFORTUNATELY, IS BEING DONE BY ALGORITHMS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
AND PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT.
AND THEY NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEY CAN ACTUALLY USE SOME OF THESE TOOLS, UM, TO HELP THEM, UH, FIND EMPLOYMENT.
UH, WE'VE HOSTED CONVERSATIONS AND DISCUSSIONS TOWN HALLS ABOUT HOW AI IS INTERSECTING THE SOCIETY.
UM, AND WE ARE ALSO OFFERING THOSE SAME TOOLS TO SMALL BUSINESSES.
AND SO, UH, THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TEAM HAS BEEN DOING A GREAT JOB CREATING FORUMS, UM, AND ALSO GIVING, GIVING PEOPLE MORE EDUCATION ABOUT, UH, HOW THEY CAN ADVANCE THEIR BUSINESSES, UH, BUSINESSES WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
UM, SLIDE EIGHT JUST TALKS A BIT ABOUT FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES.
AND SO THE WAYS THAT WE CAN USE SOME OF THESE LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS, UM, YOU KNOW, WE ARE HOME TO TWO WORLD LEADING UNIVERSITIES, AND A BUNCH OF COMPANIES HAVE ALREADY FOUND THEIR PRESENCE HERE, AND IT'S GROWING.
UM, AND FURTHER THERE'S A LOT OF RESOURCES THAT ARE AVAILABLE BOTH, UH, FROM THE STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
UH, AND SO THESE ARE TOOLS THAT I THINK WE'RE TRYING TO SPREAD, UH, AND HELP PEOPLE FIND.
SO I THINK THERE'S A WHOLE ROBUST CONVERSATION THAT WE'RE HAVING.
AND I THINK ESPECIALLY AS LIKE LARGER QUESTIONS COME UP, WE'RE EXCITED TO THINK ABOUT WITH THE COUNCIL, HOW WE ACTUALLY ENGAGE AT A SOCIETAL LEVEL.
UH, AND I'LL TURN OVER, UH, TURN THIS OVER TO MR. FUSCO JUST TO TALK THROUGH SOME OF HOW, UM, AI IS BEING DEPLOYED WITHIN THE CITY, UH, IN DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE'RE, UH, DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO DISCUSS.
UM, I ALSO, I WANNA START BY SAYING THAT THERE'S BEEN A GREAT DEAL OF COLLABORATION ACROSS THE CITY, AND SPECIFICALLY WITH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, UM, ON HOW WE CAN UTILIZE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WITHIN THE CITY.
AND I THANK EVERYONE FOR THE PARTICIPATION, UM, TO GET US HERE TODAY.
UH, BUT I'D LIKE TO TAKE A STEP BACK AND, AND LOOK AT OUR, OUR NEIGHBORS IN BOSTON, AND WE'VE BEEN COLLABORATING A, A GREAT DEAL WITH THEM AS WELL.
AND WHAT THEY'VE DONE, UM, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT AT THIS POINT.
SO, BOSTON'S BUILT, YOU KNOW, AN AI LITERACY THROUGH SELF-PACED TRAININGS.
OH, CAN WE JUST JUMP INTO THE NEXT SLIDE? I'M SORRY.
UH, SELF-PACED TRAININGS, HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS, UM, AND EVEN HAD AN ADDED INCENTIVE TO COMPLETE THE TRAININGS, WHICH WOULD GIVE THEM ACCESS TO THEIR, UH, CITY AI TOOLS.
UM, THERE'S HAVE ALSO ESTABLISHED GOVERNANCE AND GUIDANCE WITH THEIR TOOL SET, UM, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE'VE ROLLED OUT HERE IN CAMBRIDGE.
AND TWO EXAMPLES OF WHAT THEY'VE ACTUALLY PURSUED FROM A USE CASE PERSPECTIVE IS A BID BOT TOOL, WHICH WE ARE BEGINNING TO COLLABORATE WITH THEM ON FOR POTENTIAL, UH, USE HERE AT CAMBRIDGE.
UM, AND THAT'S A PARTNERSHIP THAT THEY HAD WITH HARVARD TO SIMPLIFY PUBLIC PROCUREMENT.
UM, AND THEY'VE ALSO USED OR CREATED AN AI ASSISTANT ON THEIR MAIN SITE, WHICH STARTED OUT A LITTLE BUMPY, BUT IT'S EVOLVING AS THE, THE AGENT LAURENS MORE.
SO BOSTON'S ONE OF, UH, OUR PEER EXAMPLES, BUT, UH, THERE'S OTHER CITIES TOO WITH THE, WITH THE NEXT SLIDE WE'LL, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT.
UM, AND JUST THE BROAD RANGE OF MUNICIPAL USE CASES THAT COULD POTENTIALLY, WE COULD LEVERAGE.
UM, FOR EXAMPLE, JUST A FEW, MEMPHIS IS USING AI, UM, TECHNOLOGY TO IDENTIFY POTHOLES SO THEY COULD PRIORITIZE THEIR REPAIRS.
THEY'VE CONSOLIDATED HOUSING APPLICATIONS FROM MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS INTO A SINGLE PROCESS.
AND IN PITTSBURGH, THEY'RE UPSKILLING THEIR LOCAL WORKERS AS AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CATALYST.
SO LET'S TALK A BIT ABOUT, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE IN CAMBRIDGE, IF WE CAN JUMP TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
OH, UH, JUST WANTED TO SAY, UH, APPRECIATE THE MAYOR'S OFFICE AND EVAN FOR DOING SOME OF THE RESEARCH THAT, UH, THAT LED TO SOME OF THESE EXAMPLES.
SO WE'RE NOT STARTING FROM SCRATCH.
[00:15:01]
IN THE CITY, WE ROLLED OUT AI GUIDELINES FOR RESPONSIBLE USE AND OUR AI ASSISTANT, WHICH IS CO-PILOT BACK IN NOVEMBER OF 2025.THE GUIDELINES HAVE, ARE ITERATIVE, YOU KNOW, THEY WILL BE MODIFIED AS THE TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF PAID COPILOT LICENSES THAT WE'VE DISTRIBUTED TO CERTAIN FOLKS IN THE CITY THAT SEAMLESSLY INTEGRATE WITH MICROSOFT 365 PLATFORM AND THEIR APPLICATIONS WITHIN ITD, WE UTILIZE CLOUD CODE FOR OUR SOFTWARE ENGINEERING EFFORTS, WHICH HAS BEEN INCREDIBLY USEFUL IN RENDERING TASKS THAT USED TO TAKE DAYS, SOMETIMES WEEKS INTO HOURS AND MINUTES.
SO WITH THE NEXT SLIDE, WE'LL SHOW THAT, UM, HOW DEPARTMENTS HERE IN CAMBRIDGE ARE ALREADY PRODUCING TANGIBLE VALUE FROM THESE TOOLS.
SO AI IS BEING USED IN HERE, IN CAMBRIDGE, IN POCKETS.
COMMUNICATIONS IS USING IT FOR AI ASSISTED TRANSLATIONS.
IT, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, IS USING IT FOR CODING, TROUBLESHOOTING, TECHNICAL PROBLEM SOLVING.
UM, AND THIS ALLOWS STAFF TO COMPLETE WORK MORE EFFICIENTLY AND EXPAND PROJECT SCOPE.
UM, THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IS USING AI TO REDUCE THE TIME NEEDED TO DEVELOP GRANT APPLICATIONS.
AND PUBLIC WORKS IS USING AN AI ANALYSIS, UH, AI ANALYSIS OF LIDAR TO REPLACE A MANUAL PAVEMENT INSPECTION PROCESS, THE CUT COSTS, WHILE ALSO PRESERVING THE CITY STAFF INVOLVEMENT TO EXPAND THAT ON THIS AI USE.
UM, EMPLOYEES NEED A SHARE FOUND SHARED FOUNDATION IN WHAT AI CAN DO, WHERE IT FAILS, AND HOW TO USE IT SAFELY.
SO WE'RE, IF WE GO GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH A COMPANY, NOT A COMPANY.
IT'S A, IT'S A NOT-FOR-PROFIT INNOVATE US AS A PART OF OUR FY 27 APPROACH.
UM, INNOVATE US IS A NON-PROFIT BASED RIGHT HERE OUT OF, UH, THE NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY.
IT'S PUBLIC SERVICE FOCUSED, IT'S FREED GOVERNMENT PARTNERS, AND IT'S PROVEN ACROSS MANY GOVERNMENT ENTITIES.
SO HOW WILL THEY SUPPORT US? SO THEY COULD, THEY, THEY WILL GIVE US A DEDICATED SITE WITH CUSTOM TRAINING PATHWAYS.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, WE COULD HAVE A GENERAL PATHWAY FOR MOST, MOST FOLKS IN THE CITY, BUT THEY HAVE SPECIFIC PATHWAYS AS WELL.
AND ONE EXAMPLE OF THAT IS FOR LEGAL, UM, THE CONTACTS BOTH SELF-PACED AND WORKSHOP BASED.
UM, AND THEY HAVE A LARGE PARTNER NETWORK THAT WE COULD LEVERAGE, INCLUDING OVER 50 GOVERNMENT ENTITIES.
SO TRAINING'S THE FIRST STEP IN A BROADER PHASED APPROACH THAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING FOR FY 27.
IF WE COULD JUMP TO THE NEXT SLIDE, WE CAN TAKE A LOOK.
SO SIMILAR TO WHAT BOSTON HAS DONE, WE WANNA BUILD AI LITERACY ACROSS THE CITY.
WHAT WE NOTICED WAS THERE, WHEN WE ROLLED OUT COPILOT IN OUR GUIDELINES, THERE WERE VARYING LEVELS OF UNDERSTANDING WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
AND WE WANNA BRING EVERYBODY UP TO AT LEAST A BASELINE LEVEL SO THAT WE COULD PROMOTE BASELINE, LIKE WE COULD HAVE A BASELINE OF RESPONSIBLE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE USE.
UH, SO FOLKS ALSO FEEL COMFORTABLE USING IT, AND THEN ALSO BEING ABLE TO ASK QUESTIONS.
SO WITH THAT, WE ALSO PROPOSE TO ESTABLISH AN AI DECISION MAKING FRAMEWORK, UM, OR A GOVERNANCE MODEL SO THAT WHEN SOMEBODY HAS AN IDEA AND HOW TO UTILIZE AI POTENTIALLY IN, IN THEIR ORGANIZATION OR FROM MAYBE ANOTHER ORGANIZATION IN THE CITY, THEY KNOW WHERE TO GO, THEY KNOW WHERE TO START.
AND THEN IF THAT, THAT, UH, THAT IDEA GETS TO A PILOT, HOW THEY CAN ASK QUESTIONS AND HAVE THOSE QUESTIONS ANSWERED THROUGHOUT THE PILOT, AND EVENTUALLY, POSSIBLY EVEN GET TO A POINT WHERE IT'S AN ONGOING TOOL THAT WE COULD UTILIZE WITHIN THE CITY.
AND WITH THAT FRAMEWORK, GIVE FOLKS THE ABILITY TO IDENTIFY HIGH IMPACT POTENTIAL USE CASES THAT MAY END UP BEING A PILOT IN EVENTUAL, UH, ONGOING USE.
AND THEN USING THESE PILOTS AND THESE USE CASES TO INFORM OUR LONG-TERM STRATEGY.
SO WITH THAT, UH, I WILL TURN IT BACK OVER TO OUR CITY MANAGER TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT USING ARTIFICIAL, UM, AND I'LL, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO PAREE SAFARI, UH, OUR DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
SO OBVIOUSLY AS, UM, THE CITY MANAGER KIND OF TEED UP IN HIS INTRODUCTION, UM, OBVIOUSLY CAMBRIDGE HAS BEEN, UM, UH, BEDROCK OF INNOVATION HERE IN, IN THE US AND SO OBVIOUSLY WE'VE SEEN THAT WITH LIFE SCIENCES.
AND MORE AND MORE WE'RE SEEING THAT, UM, WITH AI, UM, PARTICULARLY HERE IN CAMBRIDGE AND IN THIS STATE, IT'S ABOUT PHYSICAL AI, SO YOU CAN THINK ABOUT THAT AS ROBOTS, UM, AS WELL AS APPLIED AI, WHICH IS USING AI TO HELP WITH, UM, DRUG DISCOVERY, UM, CHAT BOT CREATION AND OTHER, UM, UH, DIFFERENT TYPES OF AI MODELS.
UM, AND SOME OF THE COMPANIES THAT YOU SEE HERE
[00:20:01]
ON THIS SLIDE AROUND LIFE SCIENCES ARE, UM, ALSO USING AI TO HELP WITH, UM, SOME OF THE WORK THAT THEY DO.SO, UM, KIND OF AS WE, AS A CITY ARE THINKING ABOUT AI AND HOW WE CAN USE IT TO HELP US, UH, SOME OF THESE MAJOR COMPANIES, OF COURSE ARE THINKING ABOUT IT THEMSELVES.
UM, AND, UH, I THINK I'LL JUST MAYBE SAY ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, WE'RE SEEING HOW DIFFERENT, UM, PARTS OF THE COUNTRY ARE, UM, ENTICING AI COMPANIES TO, UH, THEIR, UH, TO THEIR, UH, CITIES.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE, UM, WE HAVE, UM, WISCONSIN THINKING ABOUT AI.
UM, WE'RE ALSO SEEING A LOT ON WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
UM, I THINK SOME OF THAT WE'RE SEEING AT THE STATE LEVEL HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS, BUT OBVIOUSLY THERE'S DIFFERENT WAYS THAT MAYBE WE COULD THINK ABOUT IT WITHIN OUR CURRENT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AS WELL AS FUTURE ONES.
UM, AND THEN SOMETHING WE'RE ALREADY THINKING ABOUT IS, UM, HOW COULD WE MAYBE REPLICATE SAN JOSE'S MODEL OF A GOVERNMENT, UM, AI COALITION CONFERENCE SO THAT WE'RE A PART OF, UM, UH, GOVERNMENT, UM, AI, UM, POLICY AND ETHICAL DEPLOYMENT HERE IN CAMBRIDGE AS WELL AS ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS.
UM, SO WE'RE DEFINITELY TRYING TO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE MASS AI HUB, WHICH IS A QUASI STATE AGENCY WORKING ON AI, UM, AND SOME OF THESE POLICIES, UM, HERE AT THE STATE LEVEL.
UM, SO I THINK WE WANTED TO TRY TO KEEP THIS PRETTY BRIEF, UM, SO WE COULD GET THE DISCUSSION.
UM, AND, AND YEAH, HAPPY TO JUST OPEN IT UP FOR QUESTIONS, DISCUSSION.
UM, AND I'LL TURN IT BACK TO MAYOR SIDIKI.
UH, SO WE HAVE I THINK UNTIL, UM, THREE 30, BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO USE ALL THAT TIME.
UM, I WILL ASK, UH, MY COLLEAGUES TO START WITH KIND OF TWO QUESTIONS.
I THINK WHAT I WOULD BE CURIOUS, UM, TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL, UH, IS ON YOUR END, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE YOU THINK, UH, AI CAN, YOU KNOW, PERHAPS MEANINGFULLY IMPROVE SERVICES WE PROVIDE TO RESIDENTS, UM, ANY KIND OF, I THINK PRINCIPLES YOU THINK SHOULD GUIDE, UM, HOW WE EVALUATE AND USE AI.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, JUST YOUR OVERALL THOUGHTS ON ANYTHING IN THE PRESENTATION.
UH, IT'S, WE WANTED THIS TO BE A LITTLE OPEN-ENDED.
THIS IS KIND OF OUR FIRST, UM, KIND OF, YOU KNOW, CITY PRESENTATION ON THIS.
AND SO, UH, THERE MAY BE THINGS THAT YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE FURTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT AND WANT ONGOING INFORMATION.
AND SO WE CAN CONTINUE, UM, WE CONTINUE, CONTINUE THAT.
BUT I THINK, UH, THE APPROACH REALLY, UH, IS IF THE, I THINK THE BEST SLIDE AS FAR AS KIND OF HOW THE CITY'S THINKING ABOUT IT IS THE ON, UM, PAGE, WHAT IS IT 15 ABOUT BUILDING AI LITERACY, ESTABLISHING THIS AI DECISION FRAMEWORK, IDENTIFYING AND PILOTING HIGH IMPACT USE CASES, AND THEN IN, THAT'S ALL BEING USED TO INFORM THE CITY'S LONG-TERM AI STRATEGY.
SO THAT'S KIND OF THE ROADMAP WE'RE ON.
SO OPEN DISCUSSION, PLEASURE OF THE CITY COUNCIL ON THOUGHTS.
THEY, THEY HAVE COUNCILORS ARE GONNA REALLY WHEELER, I COULD, UH, START WITH ONE, WHICH IS ON, YOU KNOW, SPECIFIC USE CASES.
IF YOU COULD, YOU COULD TALK ABOUT THINKING THROUGH, I'D PRE PREFACE IT WITH THIS IS JUST LIKE, IT'S SUCH A BROAD CONVERSATION AND I GUESS GOOD, GOOD TO START SOMEWHERE, BUT IT'S ALMOST HARD TO HAVE, 'CAUSE THERE'S, THERE'S JUST SO MANY DIFFERENT POTENTIAL THINGS YOU COULD THINK ABOUT USING THIS FOR AND WHAT ACTUALLY IT WILL BE USEFUL FOR VERSUS NOT.
LIKE WHO KNOWS AT THIS POINT, IT'S A LITTLE LIKE, UM, TO ME, I MEAN TO THE, TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND FOLKS WHO WE REPRESENT A LITTLE, LIKE SELF-DRIVING CARS OR LAB GROWN MEAT, WE'RE LIKE, COULD THIS THEORETICALLY TRANSFORM, YOU KNOW, LAND USE IN THE US WHERE 80% OF IT GOES TO PRODUCING MEAT? COULD IT, COULD IT RESHAPE TRANSPORTATION RADICALLY AND EVERYBODY HAS A SELF-DRIVING CAR? LIKE YEAH, IT COULD, IS IT SOMETHING THAT FOLKS HAVE ACTUALLY SEEN IMPACT THEIR DAILY LIFE RIGHT NOW? I, I THINK FOR THE MOST FOLKS, NO.
LIKE, MAYBE THEY'VE PLAYED AROUND WITH CHAT GPTA LITTLE BIT OR CLOT OR SOMETHING AND THEY'VE, THEY'VE SEEN IT DO SOME COOL IMAGES.
THEY'VE SEEN IT DONE IT, DO A TRAVEL ITINERARY.
HAS IT REALLY CHANGED ANYONE'S DAY-TO-DAY LIFE AT THIS POINT? I THINK FOR MOST FOLKS, NO.
THEY HEAR IT ABOUT IN THE NEWS ALL THE TIME.
THEY SEE THE WILD VALUATIONS OF THESE COMPANIES.
HAVE THEY ACTUALLY SEEN IT CHANGE THEIR LIFE IN A MEANINGFUL WAY? LIKE NO.
UH, AND IT'S, IT'S A THING WHERE IF WE DO START USING IT, UH, AND, AND DO IT IN A WAY THAT IS HELPFUL, I THINK MOST FOLKS COULD BE OKAY WITH THAT.
IF, IF YOU DO IT IN THE WRONG WAY AND IT, IT SCREWS UP LIKE IT IS VERY NOTICEABLE.
PEOPLE DON'T LIKE AI SLOT, PEOPLE DON'T LIKE THE HALLUCINATIONS OF IT, THE HALLUCINATIONS ACTUALLY CAN BE QUITE HARMFUL
[00:25:01]
AND CONFUSING.AND IT'S, IT'S REALLY UNCLEAR HOW THEY EVEN, HOW PREVALENT THAT EVEN IS.
SO I THINK THE, THE EXAMPLES HERE WERE HELPFUL.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT'S INTERESTING TO THINK ABOUT THE DIFFERENT WAYS THEY ARE.
I THINK WE'VE, WE'VE HAD COUNSELORS THROW OUT DIFFERENT WAYS THAT CAN BE USED AND LIKE, I DUNNO, SOME OF OUR, SOME OF THE COUNSELORS SUGGESTED LIKE IT'LL CAN BE USED TO REWRITE OUR ZONING CODE OR DO PLANNING OR THINGS.
AND I, I HAVE NO IDEA IF ANY OF THAT IS POSSIBLE OR USEFUL AND, AND ACTUALLY DON'T WANNA DIVE INTO HAVING AI REWRITE OUR ZONING CODE TOMORROW.
SO THE THING I'M, I THINK I'M ACTUALLY MOST INTERESTED IN HEARING A ABOUT IS WHAT SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS ARE, ARE YOU THINKING OF? AND ESPECIALLY WHAT WOULD BE PUBLIC FACING? WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT THAT'S GONNA BE INTERNAL? WHAT ARE CITY STAFF THINKING ABOUT USING AI FOR? IF WE DO START ROLLING AI OUT IN A PUBLIC FACING WAY, WHAT WOULD BE THE FIRST THING THE PUBLIC SEES? UM, I THINK, I THINK A LOT OF WHAT YOU HAVE EXPRESSED FEELS RIGHT.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE IS, I AGREE LIKE A DYNAMIC WHERE SOMETIMES WHEN WE ASK THIS QUESTION OF LIKE, HOW DO WE USE AI WITHIN THE CITY, IT'S SORT OF LIKE A TOOL LOOKING FOR A PROBLEM.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF, I THINK WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS, IS BE LOOKING AT OTHER PLACES WHAT THEY'VE DONE WELL AND WHERE AI'S BEEN DEPLOYED AND IT'S BEEN EFFECTIVE.
UM, WE'VE CERTAINLY ALSO SEEN AI GET DEPLOYED IN WAYS THAT HAVE BEEN PRETTY HARMFUL AND INEFFECTIVE.
UM, AND SO I THINK THAT'LL PROBABLY GUIDE SOME OF THIS.
UM, I'D SAY JUST ON SOME OF THOSE CONCRETE EXAMPLES THAT YOU GAVE, UM, OUR INITIAL CONVERSATIONS WITH DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, AI STARTUPS OR COMPANIES THAT ARE TRYING TO SELL INTO GOVERNMENT OR CITIES, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK, I THINK THE FRONT FACING TOOLS DO FEEL LIKE THEY ARE MORE WORK THAN PEOPLE UNDERSTAND.
AND SO, UM, IT IS ACTUALLY VERY EASY GIVEN THAT A LOT OF THESE LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS ALREADY HAVE ACCESS TO THE WHOLE INTERNET TO INTERFACE WITH THEM AND ASK ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING WITHIN THE CITY AND SERVICES THAT ARE OFFERED.
AND THEY CAN OFFER AN OKAY RESPONSE.
IT'S, IT'S SORT OF AMAZING HOW GOOD THEY ARE, BUT WHEN YOU ACTUALLY GET INTO THE WEEDS, IT'S VERY EASY FOR THEM TO HALLUCINATE OR TO MISS SOME DETAIL THAT IF YOU TALKED TO SOMEBODY IN A DEPARTMENT, THEY WOULD SAY, OH NO, THAT'S NOT RIGHT.
UM, AND I THINK THAT'S ACTUALLY WHERE, UM, YOU KNOW, I'D SAY WE'RE LOOKING FOR THOSE HIGH IMPACT USE CASES, UM, WHERE THEY WILL PROBABLY BE A LITTLE BIT NARROWER BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY DOES TAKE A LOT OF WORK TO, UH, TO GET A MODEL FROM 80% GOOD WHERE LIKE 20% OF THE TIME IT'S MAKING SORT OF UNACCEPTABLE ERRORS TO WHAT THE REAL EXPECTATION IS, WHICH IS OFTEN LIKE 99% GOOD.
UM, AND, AND I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO FIND THESE NARROWER USE CASES.
I THINK WE WANNA FIND CASES WHERE, UM, IF THE TOOL IS NOT PERFECT, IT'S NOT GOING TO HAVE A TREMENDOUSLY NEGATIVE IMPACT, UM, AND WHERE THERE IS GOING TO BE REAL BENEFIT.
UM, SO, UM, SO I THINK WE'RE STILL EXPLORING, BUT THAT'S PROBABLY THE NEXT STEP THAT WE'LL, WE'LL BE TRYING TO FIND A LIST OF EXAMPLES THAT WE CAN THEN SAY, DO ANY OF THESE REALLY MAKE A LOT OF SENSE? AND HOW DO WE START DOING THAT WORK? AND I'LL JUST ADD, UM, COUNSELOR, I THINK YOU, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT AND THAT THERE'S THIS EXTERNAL PIECE LIKE WAYMO AND THAT FOCUS, AND THEN IT'S LIKE, WHAT'S THE CITY ACTUALLY DOING? AND UM, YOU KNOW, JUST ON MONDAY WE HAD THAT PERMITTING PRESENTATION, AND I THINK THERE WAS SOMETHING I MENTIONED THERE OF LIKE SOME, SOME USE SOME DOING SOMETHING WITH AI ON, ON PERMITTING.
AND WE HAVE IN THIS PRESENTATION JUST SOME OF WHAT THE CITY'S USING IT FOR, WHETHER THAT'S THE GRANT APPLICATIONS TO THE, THERE'S PAYMENT CONDITION INVENTORY, THE LANGUAGE INCLUSION.
I THINK THE QUESTION IS, IT IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE THAT WE HAVE, UM, AND WHAT KIND OF PROBLEMS ARE WE TRYING TO SOLVE? AND I DO THINK OUR DEPARTMENTS WILL HAVE VARIOUS IDEAS, UM, ON SOME OF THIS.
SO I THINK THAT'S WHY THERE'S THIS DECISION FRAMEWORK THAT YOU ALL, YOU'RE, UM, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT ON HOW THE CITY ACTUALLY GETS THAT DONE.
UM, AS FAR AS THE DECISION MAKING FRAMEWORK IS CONCERNED, IT'S REALLY A, A WAY FOR SOMEONE THAT HAS AN IDEA ON HOW TO USE OR, OR TO USE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WITHIN THE CITY CAN THEN I START HERE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS THE FIRST STEP I CAN TAKE, AND THEN THERE'S A GOVERNANCE PROCESS THROUGHOUT TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS TO MAYBE EVEN, UH, HAVE GATES WHERE YOU UNDERSTAND IF THE, IF
[00:30:01]
THE, UH, THE TECHNOLOGY IS USEFUL, IT MIGHT BE ROLLED BACK, BUT ALSO A WAY FOR IT TO BE SYNTHESIZED AND EVENTUALLY ROLLED OUT FOR, FOR USE.I THINK WHAT'S, UH, THERE'S, THERE'S A BIT OF A MISCONCEPTION I THINK, OUT IN THE PUBLIC IN TERMS OF IN AI ASSISTANCE AND, AND HOW QUICKLY YOU CAN GET THEM OUT THAT YOU JUST POINT 'EM AT SOMETHING AND IT'S GOING TO GIVE YOU ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED BY USING, YOU KNOW, NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING.
I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER, THAT I DON'T HEAR ABOUT A LOT OUT IN THE PUBLIC, IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR IS DATA.
I THINK WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT IS THAT IF YOU, IF YOU POINT AN AI AGENT OR ASSISTANT TO BAD DATA, YOU'RE INCREASING YOUR, THE, THE CHANCES OF GETTING BAD DATA BACK OR HALLUCINATIONS BACK OR NOT UPDATED DATA BACK EXPONENTIALLY.
SO I, I THINK WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ROLLOUT EDUCATION IS, IS FANTASTIC, AND I THINK THAT'S OUR, OUR FIRST STEP IN.
BUT WHEN WE GET TO THE POINT WHERE WE'RE GOING TO PILOT ACTUAL USE CASES, WE NEED TO LOOK AT OUR DATA FIRST BEFORE IMPLEMENTING AN AI AGENT.
AND I THINK THAT'S A REAL CRITICAL COMPONENT THAT WE NEED TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
UM, AND THE, THAT COULD BE PART OF THE DECISION MAKING FRAMEWORK.
IT COULD BE, OKAY, IS YOUR DATA UH, PREPARED? IS YOUR DATA CLEAN? UM, HAS IT, IS IT, IS IT UP TO DATE? YOU KNOW, IS IT THE SOURCE OF THE TRUTH? UM, HAVING ALL THAT, YOU KNOW, THOSE TYPES OF GUARDRAILS AND POTENTIAL DECISION MAKING POINTS IS CRITICAL AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
UM, I THINK THAT'S ALL I HAD FOR NOW.
COUNCILOR GOVERN, UH, THANK YOU MADAM MAYOR, THROUGH YOU.
I DON'T REALLY HAVE, I MEAN, I DO HAVE QUESTIONS.
I I CAN'T REALLY WRAP MY HEAD AROUND THEM
UM, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
IT'S A, I FIND THIS BOTH A, UM, EXCITING BUT SLIGHTLY SCARY CONVERSATION TO HAVE.
I'M SORT OF LOOKING AT THE LIST OF CONSTITUENT CONCERNS AND YOU LEFT OFF WORLD DOMINANCE.
UM, YOU KNOW, AI, I, I FEEL LIKE I'M AT THE BEGINNING OF EVERY SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE I'VE EVER WATCHED, YOU KNOW, IN MY LIFE, UM,
BUT THERE ALSO ARE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES HERE AND, AND, YOU KNOW, IF MANAGED CORRECTLY.
SO I'M, I'M DEFINITELY INTERESTED IN HOW THIS CONVERSATION ROLLS OUT AND, AND, AND HOW WE THINK ABOUT GUARDRAILS AND, AND ENSURING THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE USING THIS IN A, IN A, IN A WAY THAT THAT IS HELPFUL AND, AND AND SUPPORTIVE TO US AND THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE.
UM, YOU KNOW, BUT PUTTING SOME SAFEGUARDS IN PLACE, I'M INTERESTED IN THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PIECE.
I MEAN, I SORT OF THINKING BACK TO WHEN WE WATCHED THE PLAY ABOUT THE, YOU KNOW, THE DNA RESEARCH, IT SORT OF FEELS LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ON THE EDGE OF THIS NEW SCIENCE THAT WE'RE ALL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT AND UNDERSTAND.
AND, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE GONNA BE SOME CITIES THAT ARE GONNA BE SORT OF COURAGEOUS ENOUGH TO TAKE SOME LEAPS OF FAITH TO, YOU KNOW, INVITE THIS TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY AND, AND, AND, AND, UM, UH, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INTO THEIR COMMUNITIES.
AND, YOU KNOW, AS WE SEE KENDALL SQUARE SORT OF SOME OF THE LABS AND CERTAINLY THE OFFICE STARTING TO STRUGGLE, WHAT IS THAT NEXT FRONTIER THAT THAT, THAT WE SHOULD BE EXPLORING AS A CUTTING EDGE CITY? SO IT'S A, YOU KNOW, REALLY IMPORTANT IT, UH, CONVERSATION, UM, AS TO WHERE WE'RE GONNA GO AND THE FUTURE OF OUR, OUR ECONOMIC SECURITY.
UH, BUT IT IS, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, AS AS WE'VE ALL HAVE SEEN IN THE, IN THE NEWS AND THINGS, THERE ARE SOME, YOU KNOW, SCARY PARTS TO IT.
AND CERTAINLY AS MORE AND MORE OF THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE ARE, YOU'RE GETTING FEWER AND FEWER, UH, COMPANIES THAT, THAT ARE, THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE GETTING LARGER AND LARGER AND YOU'RE, SO, YOU'RE GETTING FEWER AND FEWER OF THEM THAT'S CONSOLIDATING THAT POWER AND CONSOLIDATING THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT MONEY, UM, YOU KNOW, IT, IT DOES, UH, IT DOES RAISE A LOT OF RED FLAGS AND CONCERNS.
SO I DON'T REALLY HAVE ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, PARTICULAR, I MEAN, I, I DO HOPE THAT, I MEAN, I, I, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE, UM, THE EDUCATIONAL PIECE THAT YOU'RE DOING.
AND I PROBABLY SHOULD TAKE SOME OF THOSE OPPORTUNITIES, YOU KNOW, MYSELF TO LEARN MORE ABOUT IT BECAUSE WE DO HEAR A LOT MORE IN, NOT JUST IN THIS CHAMBER, BUT AROUND THAT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE USING AI TO MAKE CERTAIN DECISIONS OR TO SAY, WELL, THIS IS, YOU KNOW, I, I ASKED AI THIS AND THIS IS WHAT THEY TOLD ME.
AND A LOT OF TIMES THAT INFORMATION IS NOT ACCURATE.
AND, AND SO IF, IF WE'RE GONNA BE MAKING DECISIONS AS A COMMUNITY OR AS A BODY, WE GOTTA MAKE SURE THAT THAT INFORMATION IS RIGHT AND HOW DO WE CHECK THAT INFORMATION? IT'S NOT JUST BELIEVING WHAT AI TELLS YOU, BUT MAYBE USING THAT AS A GUIDE TO THEN,
[00:35:01]
UM, YOU KNOW, MAKE, YOU HAVE TO THEN DO THE BACKUP, RIGHT? AND, AND, AND, AND TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT INFORMATION IS CORRECT.AND I DON'T, I'M NOT SURE WE ALWAYS DO THAT.
SO, UM, I THINK THE EDUCATION PIECE IS, IS, IS REALLY, UH, VALUABLE AND IMPORTANT.
SO I DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY SPECIFIC MADAM MAYOR, BUT, UM, CERTAINLY INTERESTED IN, IN THIS MOVING FORWARD.
UM, I KNOW THE MAYOR AND I HAD A PREVIEW OF THIS CONVERSATION AND SOME CONVERSATIONS WITH STAFF BEFORE THIS IN PREPARATION, SO I WON'T GO INTO TOO MUCH DEPTH.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO SYNTHESIZE A FEW THOUGHTS FROM MY SIDE.
ONE IS THAT I THINK THAT WE SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM PUBLIC FACING USES FOR, UM, AS LONG AS WE CAN, UNLESS IT'S SOMETHING VERY VERIFIED.
AND SO, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, LIKE I THINK THAT THAT IS THE PLACE WHERE IT'S THE MOST CAUTIOUS, AND I THINK THE PUBLIC LIKES TALKING TO PEOPLE AND FEELING LIKE THEY CAN A HUNDRED PERCENT TRUST THE INFORMATION.
AND THERE'S A GENERAL APPREHENSION TO, UH, AI FOR THOSE SORTS OF USE CASES WHERE IT FEELS LIKE YOU WANT A WARM PERSONAL INTERACTION.
AND SO I WOULD STAY AWAY FROM THOSE CASES.
UM, MY SUGGESTIONS A LITTLE BIT ARE KIND OF THAT, UH, IT MIGHT BE, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT THERE'S THIRD PARTY SUPPLIERS THAT WE CAN WORK WITH, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT HAVE LIKE REALLY GREAT SERVICES AND ALMOST THEN IT'S LIKE BUYING A PRODUCT OR BUYING A VENDOR AND THE FACT THAT THEY USE AI OR SOME OTHER TECHNIQUE OR WHATEVER DOESN'T REALLY MATTER.
IT'S MORE OF LIKE, WE'RE BUYING A PRODUCT AND DO WE LIKE THE PRODUCT? I THINK FOR INTERNAL USE, UM, MY BIGGEST SUGGESTION IS I THINK THAT WE SHOULD JUST GET A FEW PRO ACCOUNTS, UM, AND LET PEOPLE TRY IT.
I THINK THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S A VERY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE THAN THE FREE OR THE $20 MODELS THAT YOU GET.
AND SO, FOR EXAMPLE, ONE THING THAT I WAS THINKING THROUGH IS THAT, LIKE FOR THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING CO CONVERSATION, IT WAS REALLY HELPFUL THAT WE HAD A WEBSITE THAT WENT THROUGH ALL THE DIFFERENT MEETINGS WE HAD AND WHAT THE SUMMARIES OF EACH MEETING WAS.
AND SAME THING FOR LIKE, WHENEVER WE DO BIKE LANE INSTALLATIONS, WE HAVE THOSE WEBSITES GENERATED WITH ALL OF THE DOCUMENTS AND ALL THE HISTORY.
AND, UM, I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, IF YOU THINK ABOUT AI AS LIKE TAKING JOBS OR THOSE SORT OF CONCERNS IS VERY, VERY NEGATIVE.
I THINK IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT AS HELPING YOU WITH THE MOST ANNOYING PART OF YOUR JOB, I THINK THAT THAT'S SPECIFIC USE CASE IS A LOT MORE POSITIVE.
AND I WOULD SAY THAT WE SHOULD, YOU KNOW, BE VERY CLEAR AS WE ARE THAT LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT LAYOFFS OR ANY SORTS OF THINGS.
IT'S MOSTLY TO HELP YOU WITH THE MOST ANNOYING PART OF YOUR JOB.
AND SO ONE LIKE SPECIFIC USE CASE I THINK IS BENEFICIAL TO LIKE THE VERY, UH, TOP TIER, UH, SUBSCRIPTION MODELS IS LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, I WAS THINKING OF LIKE, UH, I ASKED THIS MORNING JUST IN TERMS OF PREPARATION OF LIKE, HEY, WE'VE HAD A LOT OF MEETINGS NOW ON SHOTSPOTTER.
COULD YOU TAKE ALL THE SUMMARY OF THE MEETINGS FROM YEARS AGO TO THE RECENT CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS AND JUST GENERATE A WEBPAGE THAT WE COULD JUST PUT UP AND HAVE LINKS TO ALL THE MEETING MINUTES AND GENERATE A SUMMARY FOR EACH SECTION, UM, OF WHAT HAPPENED.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE TEDIOUS.
YOU'D HAVE TO GO THROUGH AND TRY TO REMEMBER LIKE, OH, LIKE, I THINK IT WAS THE APRIL 14TH, 2023 PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING WHERE WE TALKED ABOUT THIS.
UM, AND IN 20 MINUTES IT WAS JUST ABLE TO GENERATE A WEBSITE WITH ALL THE DOCUMENTATION.
AND I THINK THAT THOSE ARE THE SORTS OF USE CASES WHERE I IMAGINE IT'S MORE HELPFUL IS LIKE TEDIOUS WORK.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK THE SUMMARY OF MY SUGGESTIONS IS THAT I WOULD SAY AT THIS POINT FOR INTERNAL USE WHERE WE'RE NOT BUYING A VENDOR OR GOING WITH A PRODUCT, I WOULD JUST TRY IT OUT IN SMALL WAYS, BUY A COUPLE SUBSCRIPTIONS, LET PEOPLE PLAY AROUND WITH IT AND SEE HOW WE LIKE IT.
AND SMALL SCALE EXPERIMENTS WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL.
AND JUST TO YOUR POINT, I THINK THERE'S, I KNOW THAT THE STATE, UM, HAS USED IS HAD LAUNCHED I THINK CHAT GPT ACROSS THEIR, UM, EXECUTIVE BRANCH.
I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT'S GOING, BUT THEY DID KIND OF USE THAT.
UM, I THINK ONE, I GUESS A QUESTION TO VICE MAYOR'S POINT IS RIGHT NOW COPILOT KIND OF COMES WITH MICROSOFT AND WHAT WE'RE DOING.
IS IT CORRECT THAT THE CITY DOES, THEY HAVE PAID TOOLS AND SO YOU'VE USED CLOT CODE, UM, WHAT ARE THE OTHER PAID THINGS THAT WE'RE USING? THANK YOU, MAYOR.
UH, AT THIS POINT, THE, UH, THE PAID TOOLS THAT ARE BEING USED THROUGHOUT THE CITY SIT MOSTLY WITHIN IT.
UM, HOWEVER, COPILOT, THERE ARE DIFFERENT TIERS OF, OF COPILOT.
SO THE, THE, UH, THE TIER THAT WE LAUNCHED IN NOVEMBER OF 2025 IS THE, THE VERSION THAT WE GET WITH OUR MICROSOFT LICENSING.
HOWEVER, IT'S NOT, THAT VERSION OF COPILOT IS NOT INTEGRATED WITH THE MICROSOFT 365 PLATFORM.
HOWEVER, WE DO HAVE APPROXIMATELY 100 PAID LICENSES THAT DO INCLUDE THAT TIER, UM, THAT ADDITIONAL AI TIER.
UM, AND WE, UH, ABOUT A WEEK OR TWO AGO, WE DISTRIBUTED A HANDFUL TO OUR, OUR STRATEGY TEAM
[00:40:01]
AND TO OUR COMMUNICATIONS TEAM TO, TO PLAY WITH IT.UM, AND WE HAVE IN IT HAVE THAT AS WELL.
UM, IT COULD BE SUCH THAT IN, YOU KNOW, A YEAR FROM NOW OR MAYBE EVEN SIX MONTHS FROM NOW, UM, WE MOVE THE ENTIRE CITY TO THE PAID VERSION.
AND THE BENEFITS YOU GET FOR THAT IS JUST A COMPLETE INTEGRATION WITH THE, WITH THE PLATFORM, THE 360, UH, FIVE PLATFORM.
SO IT'S NOT A LOT OF COPY AND PASTING AND, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, FROM, FROM ONE, ONE PLA UH, ONE APPLICATION TO THE TOOL BACK AND FORTH.
IT'S ALL INTEGRATED AND IT MAKES THINGS, UH, YEAH, MUCH MORE EFFICIENT AND SIMPLE.
I WANNA PLAY WITH IT TOO, IF YOU WANNA SEND IT OVER TO, I'LL TAKE IT NOTE'S OFFICE.
ANY OTHER POINTS OF VIEW? COUNCILLOR SIMMONS? CURIOUS, SO THIS CONVERSATION IS PRIMARILY BEING FORMED AROUND HOW THE CITY INTERACTS OR WORKS WITH AI.
IS THAT CORRECT? SORRY, I COULDN'T HEAR YOU.
IF YOU COULD LEAN INTO THE MICROPHONE PLEASE.
THIS CONVERSATION IS PRIMARILY ABOUT HOW THE MUNICIPALITY USES AI.
IS THAT CORRECT? UH, THROUGH YOU, MAYOR.
I THINK THAT IS PROBABLY THE MOST INTERESTING PIECE OF THE CONVERSATION, HOW THE CITY IS ACTUALLY USING AI TO DELIVER FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, BUT I THINK WE WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE'S AN INTERSECTION WITH HOW THE CITY IS ENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND, UM, GIVEN ALL OF THESE CONCERNS, HOW WE ARE THEN USING AI AND HOW AI IS AFFECTING SOCIETY.
UM, AND THAT'S THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PIECE.
AND THEN ALSO TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE AREN'T HAVING THIS CONVERSATION IN ISOLATION.
SOME OF THE LEADING APPLICATIONS OF AI AND THE COMPANIES THAT ARE DEVELOPING THESE MODELS AND THE ACADEMICS THAT ARE OPINING ON THIS ALL ARE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND SO, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE IS A LARGER CONVERSATION IN THE FALL AS WE'RE, UM, GETTING INTO THE NEXT BUDGET CYCLE ABOUT THE ECONOMICS OF THE CITY, ABOUT, YOU KNOW, OFFICE AND LAB VACANCY AND COMMERCIAL GROWTH.
AND I, I THINK YOU'RE GIVING ME AN INTERESTING FACE, COUNCILLOR SIMMONS, BUT I WOULD SAY WHEN WE ARE HAVING CONVERSATIONS, AND PARTIES CAN SPEAK MORE TO THIS IF THERE ARE QUESTIONS, BUT I'D SAY THE GROWTH OF THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR IN CAMBRIDGE AND THE BOSTON AREA IS GOING TO BE CENTERED MORE AND MORE AROUND THE APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
AND IF YOU EVEN LOOK AT BROADER EXPANSION AND GROWTH IN OFFICE AND LAB, WHEN WE LOOK AT SAN FRANCISCO, THEY FILLED MORE THAN A MILLION SQUARE FEET WORTH OF OFFICE AND LAB OVER THE LAST, WAS IT THE LAST THREE MONTHS? OVER THE LAST THREE MONTHS.
AND SO THERE'S BEEN ENORMOUS ECONOMIC GROWTH COMING IN THAT AREA.
WE HAVEN'T SEEN THAT IN CAMBRIDGE AND BOSTON.
AND PEOPLE CAN TALK ABOUT, I THINK, IS THIS A GOOD THING OR IS THIS A CONCERNING THING? I THINK WE WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT'S ALSO PART OF THE CONVERSATION.
COUNCILLOR SIMMONS, THANK YOU.
I KIND OF WANTED TO SNACK AND KIND OF GAVE ME A MEAL, BUT THAT'S OKAY.
AND SO FOR ME IT'S HOW WE GOING TO INCLUDE LOW AND MODERATE INCOME FOLKS, BLACK AND HISPANIC RESIDENTS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT, EVEN AS WE HAVE THIS CONVERSATION.
'CAUSE I JUST DON'T WANT US TO GET TOO FAR DOWN THE ROAD ABOUT HOW WE USE IT AND WHAT WE DO, AND THEN START THINKING ABOUT THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ASPECT.
SO I'M LOOKING IS WHAT IS OUR WRITTEN PLAN TO DO BOTH AS WE BRING OURSELVES UP TO SPEED, HOW WE BRINGING UP THE COMMUNITY, UM, AND I, AND THAT'S PARTICULARLY IMPRO IMPORTANT BECAUSE WE'VE HAD SO MUCH CONVERSATION ABOUT MUNICIPAL BROADBAND AND HOW WE FEEL LIKE WE, YOU KNOW, THE COMMUNITY WANTS US TO DO IT, BUT WE, IT'S TOO EXPENSIVE.
WELL, MUNICIPAL BROADBAND'S VERY DIFFERENT THAN AI.
SO HOW ARE WE GOING TO, UM, MAKE SURE THOSE THAT ARE LEAST REPRESENTED IN TERMS OF THE KNOWLEDGE BASE AROUND AI ARE, ARE, ARE KEPT ABREAST? HOW DO WE KEEP 'EM UP? IS IT, DO WE SET UP, I MEAN, WE HAVE FREE WIFI AND WE HAVE COMPUTER LABS, BUT DO WE OFFER BASIC AI LITERACY AND DIGITAL LITERACY? THIS WOULD BE THE TIME TO DO IT.
AND THE CITY IS LAUNCHING ITS CONVERSATION AROUND AI AND TECHNOLOGY.
OUR LIBRARY'S GONNA START DOING BASIC AND THEY MAY ALREADY BE DOING IT.
SO LET'S ASSUME THAT THAT MAY NOT BE HAPPENING.
UH, WE WANNA OFFER BASIC AI AND DIGITAL LITERACY AND WE WANNA DO IT IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES.
[00:45:01]
CIVIC TOOLS INTO SPANISH AND OTHER LOCAL LANGUAGES.AND THEN I GUESS WHAT'S ALSO IMPORTANT IS AUDITING LOCAL DATA SETS TO MAKE SURE THEY REPRESENT ALL NEIGHBORHOODS EQUALLY.
THAT'S GONNA BE REALLY IMPORTANT.
AUDIT LOCAL DATA SETS TO MAKE SURE THEY REPRESENT ALL NEIGHBORHOODS EQUALLY.
FIX THOSE GAPS WHERE MINORITY AND LOW INCOME PE AREAS ARE UNDER MAPPED OR IGNORED AND INVOLVE LOCAL RESIDENTS.
AND THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT, INVOLVING LOCAL RESIDENTS IN THE DECISION OR DECIDING WHAT DATA THE CITY COLLECTS AND USES.
YOU KNOW, CAN WE HAVE A CO-DESIGN MODEL WITH OUR COMMUNITIES PARTNERING WITH GRASSROOTS GROUPS THAT ARE LED BY PEOPLE OF COLOR TO BUILD THOSE AI TOOLS? AND I, I DON'T WANNA GET TOO FAR DOWN.
I DON'T WANNA GIVE YOU SO MUCH THAT YOU, YOU FEEL, UM, OVERWHELMED, BUT FOR ME, I, I JUST THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE THAT CONVERSATION ABOUT EQUITY AND ACCESS AT THE VERY BEGINNING, INTERNALLY, WHAT THE CITY DOES, WHAT THE EMPLOYEES DO, BUT ALSO EXTERNALLY IN TERMS OF THE COMMUNITIES.
'CAUSE THE FURTHER WE GET USING AI AND THE LESS WE RE WE REACH BACK AND GET THE COMMUNITY THE FURTHER BEHIND THEY'RE GONNA FALL.
I I WANNA MENTION, UM, EARLIER THIS WEEK THERE, WE WENT TO THE, THERE WAS THE CELEBRATING NATIONAL BLACK, UH, BUSINESS MONTH.
AND THERE IS AN UPCOMING WORKSHOP, UM, AROUND SOME OF, SOME PIECE OF THIS, BUT PARTIES, DO YOU WANNA SHARE MORE? UH, SURE.
SO, UM, ONE OF THE, A COUPLE OF EFFORTS, UM, THROUGH THE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIVISION HAVE BEEN HOW WE'RE EDUCATING SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AROUND AI, UM, SPECIFICALLY ON OUR SUPPLIER DIVERSITY EFFORTS, UM, SO THAT FOLKS KNOW THEY CAN USE SOME AI TOOLS AROUND, UM, RESPONDING TO BIDS, UM, MAYBE CRAFTING AN RFP RESPONSE, UM, AND JUST SEEING HOW THAT TOOL CAN BE HELPFUL TO YOU.
UM, SO WE'VE DONE A FEW, UH, WORKSHOPS, UH, THIS PAST, UH, FISCAL YEAR, AND THEN WE HAVE ONE COMING UP AUGUST 12TH AT THE FIRST STREET MARKET, SPECIFICALLY AROUND USING AI FOR, UM, CONTRACTING PURPOSES.
AND I, I THINK I'LL JUST SAY TWO MORE OTHER THINGS.
UM, AND SO I THINK SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS WE'VE ALL BEEN HAVING IS HOW DO WE ENSURE THAT RESIDENTS AND OTHERS KNOW ABOUT SOME OF THIS FREE, UM, EDUCATIONAL TRAINING? YEAH, PLEASE, COUNCILOR SIMMONS.
ONE OTHER QUESTION, AND MAYBE IT'S TO YOU FUSCO.
UM, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT AI, YOU KNOW, AI IS, IS US SORT OF COMPUTERIZED.
AND BECAUSE WE HAVE BIASES, I EXPECT THAT AI IS GOING TO HAVE THOSE.
AND SO LET'S, LET'S TALK ABOUT LIKE FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY.
YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THAT MODEL IS TRAINED ON LIGHTER SKIN INDIVIDUALS, IT MAY STRUGGLE TO ACCURATELY IDENTIFY PEOPLE WITH DARKER SKIN TONES.
AND SO I JUST WANT US TO BE REALLY, AS WE'RE BUILDING THIS, THIS MODEL, I MEAN, I KNOW AI EXISTS, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD OUR CITYWIDE MODEL.
CORRECT? AM I WRONG IF I'M, IF I'M SWIMMING IN THE WRONG POND, I WANNA KNOW.
UM, I JUST WANT US TO BE MINDFUL, YOU KNOW, UM, OF, OF THE INHERENT DISCRIMINATION IN AI BECAUSE OF WHAT IT IS, WHERE IT GETS ITS INFORMATION FROM, YOU KNOW, WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME, WE STILL DO, UH, IN THE COUNCIL TALKING ABOUT SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY.
AND NOT THAT AI IS A SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY, BUT ISN'T IT A SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY? SO IF WE'RE GOING TO USE TECHNOLOGY, WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE STAY MINDFUL OF THE INHERENT BIASES THAT, YOU KNOW, MAY COME UP AND WE ARE GOING TO, SOME OF THEM ARE ALREADY GONNA KNOW.
WE CAN USE AI TO FIGURE THEM OUT, BUT THE OTHER ONES WE'RE GOING TO LEARN BY DOING.
AND SO HOW ARE WE, I I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IN OUR ROLLING OUT OF OUR A AI PORTFOLIO THAT WE PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO BIAS DISCRIMINATION OUTREACH IN THE ENGAGEMENT, A YIELD MATTER MAYOR THROUGH YOU, MAYOR SIKI.
UM, WHEN WE ROLLED OUT OUR, OUR GUIDELINES, UM, IN, UH, NOVEMBER OF 2025, WE ROLLED THEM OUT AS RESPONSIBLE USE GUIDELINES FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
[00:50:01]
UM, WE, WE ESTABLISHED AN AI WORKING GROUP AS WELL.AND WE ARE VERY COGNIZANT OF THE MISINFORMATION OR THE POTENTIAL BIAS THAT AI CAN PRODUCE.
AND THAT'S WHY IN THE RESPONSE, WHEN WE SAY RESPONSIBLE USE, WE ALWAYS, AT THE END OF OUR CONVERSATION, IT'S WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OUTPUT THAT WE PRODUCE, WHETHER IT'S USING AR, UH, OR NOT, BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT ALL, ALL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS, IS A MACHINE THAT'S LEARNING BASED ON DATA THAT'S INPUT INTO IT, WHICH COULD BE BIAS, THERE COULD BE MISINFORMATION, THERE IS, IT'S LEGITIMATE, IT'S DOCUMENTED.
SO WE STRESS ONGOING RESPONSIBLE USE WHERE THE, THE PERSON THAT'S USING THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ASSISTANT MM-HMM
AND IF THEY IDENTIFY THAT BIAS, THEY NEED TO CORRECT IT.
UH, THANK YOU, UH, MR. VCO THROUGH YOU, MS. MADAM MAYOR, JUST ONE QUESTION.
DID YOU MENTION, YOU SAY WORKING GROUP? YES.
WE ESTABLISHED AN AI WORKING GROUP, UM, WHERE REALLY AT THIS POINT, IT'S BEEN A, IT'S BEEN A FORM FOR HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS BEING USED WITHIN THE CITY.
UM, WE HAVE A VERY DIVERSE GROUP OF FOLKS THAT, THAT FROM ALL DIFFERENT, FROM DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS WITHIN THE CITY.
WE, WE TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING FROM HOW WE CAN USE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO SIMPLIFY OUR EVERYDAY WORK TO, UH, THE VICE MAYOR'S POINT ABOUT SIMPLIFYING MUNDANE TASKS ALL THE WAY TO WHAT, WHAT COULD WE DO IN OUR RESPONSIBILITY USE MM-HMM
TO HELP MITIGATE IN ANY WAY WE CAN, THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT.
SO THROUGH YOU MADAM AMANDA, MR. FUSCO.
DO YOU HAVE A MIND? I WAS GONNA SAY SOMETHING THAT PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN WELL RECEIVED.
UM, HOW, WHEN YOU SAY IT'S A DIVERSE WORKING GROUP, WHAT DOES DIVERSITY MEAN TO YOU? AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS, I, I LOOK AT ETHNICITY, GENDER INCOME CLASS OF WHERE YOU ARE IN THE, UM, EMPLOYMENT HIERARCHY.
I MEAN, THERE'S SOMEONE FROM THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, BUT IS THERE SOMEONE THAT ACTUALLY LOADS THE TRASH ON THE TRASH TRUCK? SO THE, THE FOLKS THAT ARE ON THE COMMITTEE MM-HMM
UM, THE WORKING GROUP WERE RECOMMENDED TO US BY DIFFERENT DEPARTMENT HEADS AS, UM, REPRESENTATIVES, UH, THAT WOULD WORK WITH AI WORKING GROUP YEAH.
TO HELP ROLL OUT, UH, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN A RESPONSIBLE WAY.
SO THROUGH YOU MADAM MAYOR, AND THEN I'LL YIELD THE FLOOR, I'M GONNA PUSH, PUSH BACK AND, AND ASK OF YOU THAT YOUR COMMITTEE LOOKS LIKE THE PEOPLE WE SERVE.
SO I WANT TO SEE, YOU KNOW, BLACK LATINO, SOMEONE THAT IS MODERATELY INCOME TO THE HEAD OF DEPARTMENT BECAUSE THOSE VOICES ARE GOING TO ALL BRING SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
AND WHEN, IF YOU ASK COUNCIL SIMMONS, WHO I WOULD REPORT ASKED IF SIT MIGHT BE VERY DIFFERENTLY THAN THE CITY MANAGER, 'CAUSE HE WORKS WITH A DIFFERENT GROUP OF PEOPLE.
YOU FOLLOW WHAT I'M SAYING? SO FOR ME, IT'D BE IMPORTANT, YOU KNOW, I WANNA SEE THEIR FACES, I WANNA SEE THEIR NAMES, I WANNA KNOW WHAT THEY DO SO THAT I CAN TRUST THAT AS THEY'RE ROLLING THIS OUT FOR US, IT'S GONNA BE AS REPRESENTATIVE AS POSSIBLE.
THE NEXT MEETING YOU HAVE, YOU SHOULD ASK YOURSELVES WHO'S NOT IN THE, WHO'S NOT IN THIS ROOM.
UM, AND MAYBE, YOU KNOW, FOR THIS WORKING GROUP AND YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE NEED A REPRESENT MAYBE THE MAYOR OR YOU KNOW, SOMEONE FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT CONNECTION WITH THE COUNCIL, YOU KNOW, IS CONSISTENT, MIGHT BE WORTH, UM, NOT TO GIVE YOU ANOTHER, ANOTHER JOB, MADAM MAYOR, BUT, AND A YOUNG PERSON I PROBABLY KNOW AND A YOUNG PERSON.
THEY'RE ALL YOUNGER THAN US, SO
THERE'S A LOT OF, UM, AND, AND, AND EVAN'S PREP FOR THIS, THERE'S A LOT OF REALLY TERRIBLE EXAMPLES OF HOW AI HAS BEEN USED TO DISCRIMINATE.
AND SO THAT REALLY SHOULD BE AT THE FOREFRONT.
AND SO I THINK, UM, I, I A HUNDRED PERCENT AGREE AND I THINK I'M HOPEFUL THAT AS WE, THIS IS ON EVERYONE'S MINDS.
UM, ONE THING I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD SHARE WOULD BE, AS WE THINK ABOUT MORE TOOLS FOR CITY STAFF, JUST HOW CITY STAFF SO FAR HAS REACTED TO COPILOT, FOR EXAMPLE.
'CAUSE I KNOW IT'S BEEN A LITTLE MIXED.
UM, YOU KNOW, I DID MY OWN KIND OF, HEY, WHO'S USING COPILOT? AND I'M REALLY CURIOUS FROM EVEN THE COUNT, MY COLLEAGUES ON THE COUNCIL, LIKE, IF ANY OF YOU ARE USING COPILOT IF, OR IF YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS, UM, IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE YOU ARE
[00:55:01]
UM, AND SO I AM CURIOUS, LIKE I DO THINK THERE'S, MAYBE THERE ARE STAFF WHO ARE LIKE IN THE SAME BOAT HERE, LIKE WHY DO WE USE IT? UM, HOW HELPFUL IS IT? AND I, I HAVE BEEN USING IT.
IT IT HAS BEEN, BUT IT WAS A LEARNING CURVE FOR ME TOO.
AND I KNOW THE CITY'S DONE TRAININGS, BUT IF YOU COULD SPEND A FEW MINUTES JUST TALKING ABOUT HOW YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT THAT APPROACH.
SO COPILOT, THE FEEDBACK THAT WE'VE HAD ON COPILOT, TO YOUR POINT, MAYOR, IS MIXED.
UM, SOME, SOME FOLKS LOVE IT, THEY THINK IT'S GREAT.
IT REALLY HELPS THEM WITH THEIR DAY-TO-DAY WORK.
AND OTHERS THAT USE OTHER AI, AI ASSISTANTS THINK IT'S THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL AND, YOU KNOW, GEMINI'S BETTER OR, YOU KNOW, CLAUDE'S BETTER OR EVERYTHING'S BETTER.
CHATSY, BT UM, I THINK THOUGH THE, THE LION'S SHARE OF FOLKS THAT ARE USING THE, THE COPILOT AI ASSISTANT FIND IT USEFUL FOR WHAT THEY ARE USING IT FOR.
UM, AND TO BE HONEST, WHAT WE'VE HEARD IN THE WORKING GROUP ARE VERY SIMPLE APPLICATIONS.
YOU KNOW, I NEED TO SUMMARIZE THE DOCUMENT.
I NEED TO SEE IF MY EMAIL SHOULD SOUND WARMER, MAYBE A DIFFERENT TONE.
SO VERY SIMPLE USE CASES OF WHAT WE HEARD THE, YOU KNOW, THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE USING IT FOR.
UM, BUT IN TERMS OF MAKING A CHANGE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, WE'D LIKE TO SEE HOW, YOU KNOW, MAYBE IF WE GO TO THE PAID VERSION, UH, FOR EVERYONE TO SEE HOW MAYBE OUR STAFF REACTS TO THE USE OF A, THE PAID VERSION OF MICROSOFT COPILOT EMBEDDED AND INTEGRATED INTO THE MICROSOFT 365 PLATFORM, WHICH WE HAVE HERE.
UM, AS OPPOSED TO POTENTIALLY MOVING TO A DIFFERENT TOOL.
HOWEVER, FROM WHAT I'VE HEARD IN THE WORKING GROUP AND ACROSS THE CITY, EVERYONE'S OPEN TO A CHANGE.
IF THAT'S WHAT FOLKS, YOU KNOW, AGREE WOULD BE BEST FOR THE CITY.
VICE MAYOR ZE HAS HIS HAND RAISED.
UM, I, I WILL SAY AS SOMEONE WHO USES, UM, UH, A LOT OF DIFFERENT TOOLS, I DON'T USE CO-PILOT, I FEEL LIKE IT'S NOT THE MOST EFFECTIVE OF THE TOOLS.
UM, AND I I JUST WANTED TO ADD THAT I THINK THAT WE SHOULD THINK OF IT KIND OF LIKE WE THINK ABOUT LIKE SPREADSHEETS OR LIKE GOOGLE DOCS OR LIKE CANVA OR SOMETHING, WHICH IS LIKE, IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE FOR THE GOAL TO BE A HUNDRED PERCENT USAGE OR EVEN MOST EMPLOYEES USING IT.
I THINK THAT LIKE, IT CAN FEEL LIKE, OH, IT'S A NEW TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE TO LIKE, GET EVERYONE TO LIKE, ADAPT WITH THE TIMES OR SOMETHING.
AND, AND I JUST WANTED TO REITERATE THAT I THINK MY FEELING IS LIKE, IT'LL BE USEFUL FOR MAYBE 10% OF STAFF, BUT HOPEFULLY IT'S PRETTY USEFUL FOR SOME SUBSET OF THAT 10%.
AND SO, LIKE, YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK THAT WE HAVE TO TRY TO LIKE, YOU KNOW, CHERRY RIG THIS INTO EVERYONE'S JOB, NOR IS THAT NECESSARILY EVEN A GOOD OUTCOME THAT INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY AND DOESN'T LEAVE PEOPLE FRUSTRATED, RIGHT.
WE HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF JOBS, SO JUST WANTED TO MAKE THAT SMALL POINT.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS, COMMENTS? WE DON'T HAVE EVERYONE IN THE COUNCIL TODAY, SO I'M SURE MY OTHER COLLEAGUES DEFINITELY HAVE THOUGHTS, BUT, UH, WE WILL TRY TO ALSO REACH OUT TO THEM AND SEE IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT THEY WANNA SHARE ON THIS TOPIC.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK, I THINK THIS IS JUST THE FIRST CONVERSATION, SO I THINK IT'S KIND OF, THIS IS, THIS IS THE RIGHT TONE AND, AND COVERAGE.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK COLLECTIVELY SOME OF THE CONVERSATION IS GOING TO BE, UM, I, I WOULD AGREE WITH, WITH VICE ZI.
YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THIS IS WHY THAT FIRST SLIDE TALKED ABOUT WHEN WE SAY AI, WHAT WE ACTUALLY MEAN IS A LOT OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF TOOLS.
AND, AND SO, AND AI AS A GENERIC IDEA IS PROBABLY TOO BROAD.
UM, AND, AND REALLY IT'S MORE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A SPECIFIC KIND OF TOOL THAT IS DRIVEN BY A SPECIFIC KIND OF AI AND WE AREN'T EXPECTING EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE TO BE USING THAT.
UM, BUT I THINK IN THE, IN THESE DIFFERENT NARROW USE CASES, THERE COULD BE TREMENDOUS VALUE THAT WE COULD, YOU KNOW, WHERE, WHERE WE CAN ACTUALLY GET MORE WORK DONE OR CERTAINLY SOME WORK THAT WE OTHERWISE WOULDN'T DO.
AND I THINK THAT'S ACTUALLY THE PART ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY THAT FEELS MOST COMPELLING.
UM, THAT THERE IS ACTUALLY WORK THAT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DONE BECAUSE IT WOULD BE TOO LABOR INTENSIVE OR TOO DIFFICULT THAT AI CAN HELP US DO, UH, IN A WAY THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY ASSESS AND ENSURE THAT THERE ISN'T BIAS BUILT INTO IT, THAT IT ISN'T HALLUCINATING OR MAKING MISTAKES.
[01:00:01]
I THINK THE REAL VALUE IS, UM, THAT, THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY ABLE TO DO SOME THINGS FASTER, BETTER, OR, OR IN THE OTHER, IN, IN THE ALTERNATIVE WORLD WHERE WE DON'T HAVE THIS TOOL.UM, AND I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE WE'RE KIND OF AT THE VERY BEGINNING.
AND I THINK TO THE, TO THIS DISCUSSION AND TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE ALIGNING WITH THE CITY COUNCIL AND THAT WE'RE BEING TRANSPARENT WITH THE COMMUNITY, IT IS TO SAY WE ARE WILLING TO MOVE FORWARD AND THAT WE WANT TO START EXPERIMENTING AND THAT WE WANT TO ALSO MAKE SURE, AND MAYBE IT IS THE CASE, THAT WE WANNA SET UP A MORE REGULAR CADENCE OF CONVERSATIONS AND PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS ABOUT HOW WE'RE TRYING THIS OUT AND HOW IS IT GOING.
UM, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS I HAVE JUST PERSONALLY, SOME PEOPLE SAY LIKE, I WILL NEVER TOUCH AI AND I DON'T WANT IT TO BE USED.
AND SO I THINK EXPLAINING, YOU KNOW, THE CASES WHERE THIS CAN BE BENEFICIAL, UM, AND GENERATING SOME LEVEL OF COMMUNITY AWARENESS AND BUY-IN THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE USING PUBLIC RESOURCES TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY AND USE THESE TOOLS IS AN IMPORTANT FIRST STEP.
UM, AND I THINK I DO HEAR THAT FROM THE COUNCIL, THAT THERE IS, UH, A CONCERN OVER, OVER HOW WE USE THESE TOOLS AND THAT WE DO IT RESPONSIBLY.
UM, BUT ALSO THAT, YOU KNOW, AS, AS SORT OF CAMBRIDGE, THE PLACE WHERE ALL OF THIS TECHNOLOGY IS SITTING THAT WE SHOULD, WE SHOULD BE DOING SOME OF THIS WORK AND THAT THERE IS ACTUALLY PROMISE HERE.
YEAH, AND I THINK I'LL JUST ADD, I MEAN, I THINK FROM THE COUNCIL LEVEL, THERE'S SOME OF OUR COLLEAGUES, WE PASSED SOMETHING ON MONDAY THAT SAID, YOU KNOW, LET'S EXPLORE AI IN THIS, YOU KNOW, UM, TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT, RIGHT? AND SO I THINK AS WE THINK FOR ME PERSONALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S THIS US CONFERENCE OF MAYOR PUT, PUT OUT THIS MAYOR'S AI PLAYBOOK AND IT REALLY ENCOURAGED FOLKS TO THINK ABOUT, UM, HOW WE'RE IMPROVING RESIDENT SERVICES.
UM, AND THAT'S SOMETHING I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN, UM, IN ADDITION TO WHERE WE CAN REMOVE THESE BARRIERS FOR STAFF.
UM, AND WE'RE, UH, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK HOW CAN THESE TOOLS HELP US DELIVER BETTER PUBLIC SERVICES IS SOMETHING I'M CURIOUS ABOUT.
AND I THINK SOME CITY STAFF ARE ALREADY THINKING ALONG THOSE LINES IS WHETHER IT'S PERMITTING OR, UM, OTHER AREAS.
UH, BUT OF COURSE WE HAVE TO ENSURE THE RIGHT GUARDRAILS OR THERE, UM, AROUND A LOT OF WHAT YOU ALL HAVE MENTIONED, UM, IN TERMS OF BRI BIAS, PRIVACY, SECURITY, UM, YOU KNOW, TRANSPARENCY, HUMAN OVERSIGHT.
SO THERE'S A LOT MORE, UM, ON THIS.
AND AS THE CITY MANAGER MENTIONED, THIS IS KIND OF THE BEGINNING OF THE CONVERSATION.
I'M EXCITED, UM, TO CONTINUE THAT AND I APPRECIATE THE COUNCIL'S WILLINGNESS TO WEIGH IN ON THIS TOPIC.
SO WE DO HAVE TO PLACE THIS, UH, COMMUNICATION ON FILE.
SO WE'LL GO AHEAD, UH, ON A MOTION BY COUNSELOR MCGOVERN, UH, DO A ROLL CALL ON PLACING THIS COMMUNICATION ON FILE.
COUNCILOR ZUBE, ABSENT VICE MAYOR? YES.
THAT'S FIVE MEMBERS VOTING AFFIRMATIVE FOR RECORDED AS ABSENT.
THE COMMUNICATION MOTHER CITY OFFICERS IS PLACED ON FILE.
UH, YOU HAVE AN HOUR-ISH, UH, LESS AN HOUR BACK, BUT ALMOST AN HOUR BACK.
THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO WORKED ON, UH, THE PUTTING THIS TOGETHER ON A MOTION BY COUNCILOR SABRINA WHEELER TO ADJOURN.
ABSENT COUNCILLOR MCGOVERN? YES.
FIVE MEMBERS VOTING IN THE AFFIRMATIVE WE'RE ADJOURNED.