By james art 
Boise, Idaho (CBS2) – The city of Boise uses artificial intelligence to increase efficiency and improve services for its inhabitants. The goal is to simplify tasks and optimize operations without replacing human workers.
“These are tools that, if used properly for the right tasks, can help our employees do their job better and faster,” says Kyle Patterson, director of organizational efficiency for the city of Boyz. “We have seen a great opportunity with these tools like Chatgpt to help our staff unload some of their more work, so that they can spend more than their time to influence the community.”
Despite the advantages, employees recognize AI imperfections, emphasizing the importance of responsible use.
“We admit that these tools are far from perfect. They can be prejudiced, they can confidently state things like facts that are not really true, so we are really active about creating AI guidance and policies so that people know how to use these instruments safely and responsibly, ” Patterson said.
The city reports that AI is already saving working hours every week.
“So far, we have seen great results and the staff using the tools informs us that they save hours work every week using these tools,” Patterson said. “We are looking for investments that we can make in the coming years to fund staff licenses as long as we think we can continue to do it safely and responsibly, and we always look at new instruments that can help us do our work Better. “
Some departments began to use AI to help residents directly.
“I know that the library has recently started using tools that allow them to make live translations with customers and this is powered by AI. So just one example of how AI can help us provide better services to our residents, “Patterson said.
Patterson advised to treat AI as an intern – unpleasant, but not always right.
“Indeed, how we talk about it is with staff is to think about AI as an army of truly smart trainees. You will not take something they have produced and just give it to your boss, right? Because they may be really smart, but they are new to the organization. They invent things, you don’t turn it on, and we have to treat AI in the same way, not just assume that what it says is right, “he said.
City leaders confirm that AI will continue to play a role in turning Boise a more intelligent and more efficient place to live.