Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Digital Government topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council advances city–Cornell AI records partnership for attorney review, limits set on data use
Summary
Council authorized DICE to pursue a partnership with Cornell to digitize and index legislative records (2009–present) and approved safeguards—records limited to public FOIL material, no training of commercial models without consent—and referred the resolution to the city attorney for final language; the motion passed unanimously.
The Ithaca Common Council voted April 22 to advance a proposed partnership between the city's Department of Information and Community Engagement (DICE) and the Cornell Center for AI Innovation to digitize, index and enable AI-assisted search of city legislative records from 2009 to the present, subject to legal review.
Councilmember Keel read the resolution's limits: the project would be limited to records already public under the New York Freedom of Information Law; it would "prohibit the use of city records to train commercial models without the city's express written consent"; and any public-facing search or query tool would be provided at no cost to residents unless council approved otherwise.
Councilmembers pressed on data-security, energy use and the staging of AI tools. Councilmember Kirby asked that council retain review authority before any AI interpretation phase, citing concerns about model reliability and hallucinations. Keel and sponsors said the first phase is an indexing and search effort using Cornell's local models and resources, with any later AI-driven interpretation returning to council and requiring authorization and funding.
Council amended the motion to refer language to the city attorney so that resolves are ordered correctly and staff-time expectations are clarified; the amended motion carried unanimously. Staff said an updated resolution will return in May. The council also requested clarity from the city clerk on what "reasonable staff time" means relative to existing workplans before further approvals.
