Fort Myers advisory board backs hiring lead‑generation contractor after ChatGPT 'Summarizer' demo

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Fort Myers City Economic Development Advisory Board voted Oct. 2 to back pursuing a paid lead‑generation contractor to help the city recruit businesses, and members said they will urge city council to consider the contract as part of upcoming budget and workshop discussions.

The board’s decision followed a live demonstration by Dwayne, a board member who presented a ChatGPT‑based tool he described as a “Summarizer” that pulls together past meeting audio and public information into searchable summaries and timelines. The demonstration was intended to help the advisory board prioritize initiatives and to identify business‑recruitment targets.

Dwayne, presenting the tool to the board, said: “It’s not magic, it’s ChatGPT,” and walked members through example queries that compared previous discussion threads with the City of Fort Myers’ strategic goals. He said the Summarizer uses transcribed meeting audio and can query external public websites when…