‘Computers don't get tired. They don’t go out on the town the night before, they don’t go off sick’
North Northamptonshire Council discusses using artificial intelligence in the organisation
By Sarah Ward
How much the North unitary should embrace emerging uses of artificial intelligence (AI), was the topic of a debate last week.
The council’s assistant chief executive Guy Holloway gave the connected communities executive advisory panel a 30 minute talk on the subject - starting with the development of human language through the industrial revolution, the invention of computers and onto AI.
Littering his talk with examples - and then saying he was not proposing them for the council - Guy Holloway said there were ‘exciting opportunities’ with the technology, but kept ringing a word of caution. He said the technology was ‘unstoppable and would not go away’.
Innovators in AI - including those who have been involved in its development- have been raising caution about the use of the technology in recent months and have called on governments around the world to introduce legislation which will ensure AI companies act responsibly.
The council, which is carrying several hundred vacancies which has partly led to it balancing its finances this year, is currently devising an ICT strategy for how it runs the business.
Guy Holloway said:
“We have a diverse ICT estate and a developing ICT strategy and through that we will consider how AI and new technologies can benefit us. We are already benefiting from it as companies like Microsoft and Google are utilising this to help our customers.
“But there will need to be decisions about how we take that forward. As an organisation the sort of things that the corporate leadership team will be thinking about is what is our digital culture. How far do we want to go? How far can it help us? What up-skilling and re-skilling do we need to do? What is our approach? Is it a structured approach or is it an emergent approach.
“In terms of resources we need to think about the skills we have and the resources to onboard that technology. We need to understand the investment but importantly the savings. I would argue if there are not financial benefits and really clear customer benefits then we need to think carefully about whether we make that investment.”
He gave examples of how AI could be put to use by the council such as helping to devise more responsive waste collection rounds and by chat bots helping customers with website enquiries.
He gave examples of how the health industry had used technology to supplement the work people were doing. He said the research had shown it is extremely effective at looking at huge volumes of data and picking up things that humans may have overlooked.
“Computers don’t get tired. They don’t go out on the town the night before, they don’t go off sick. They do go wrong, but when they’re working they work quite tirelessly to perform their task.”
He said:
“AI is brilliant in terms of what it can do and it can appear very human, but actually it is not that clever and does have some downsides.
“I do have natural concern when I see people being very excited about the technology, I think we should be, but also we should stop and think really carefully about how it is used.”
He also flagged up issues with data governance and ethical issues about how information is used.
After his presentation he asked the councillors on the panel for feedback, which was mixed.
Richard Levell, who represents Raunds, said as an accountant, he was naturally cautious.
“Cyber security worries the hell out of me,” he said.
“I don’t bank on the phone, I’m not involved in social media.
“It worries me that if we were an early adopter we might leave ourselves exposed. Surely this is tinkering at the margins. The real high value items which this council is involved with are children’s service and adult social care and I know the children’s trust is £7m in the red, I’m sure for great reasons. How can AI help this. I suggest it probably can’t.
“I’m not suggesting we don’t look at this but it is not going to save the fundamental issues which this council faces, I would suggest.”
Cllr Elliott Prentice, who represents the Ise area of Kettering, was also skeptical.
“I think with AI a lot of what we are doing is replacing what we’re doing rather than improving what we’re doing. I think there is a lot to be said for the old-fashioned methods.”
And Cllr Wendy Brackenbury, who represents Thrapston voiced concern about new technologies not being as accessible to older residents.
“I think there are a lot of advantages but I’m just concerned. We need to make sure we don’t leave some people behind.”
But Labour’s Cllr John McGhee was more enthusiastic about AI, saying there were opportunities to make the council’s services better by using the technology.
He said:
“I think we should be looking to put a business plan together and see where we can get the best benefits from AI.
“We are members of the Local Government Association (LGA) and I’m sure the LGA is doing a lot of work on this.
“But the most import thing is how do we bring the staff and the customers along? We have got got make it simple and usable for them.
“There are risks but I do think there are great opportunities.”
I would suggest they use AI to actually run the council, computers don't do favours for friends or fellow masons and they listen to all points of view, no matter which political party puts it forward.
Not sure about staff roles but Artificial Intelligence might do a better job than the current political leadership of North Northamptonshire councillors!