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Select Board asks staff to revise municipal AI policy to add disclosure and data protections
Summary
After debate about prohibited data and disclosure, the Select Board asked staff to return a revised municipal AI policy for the consent agenda, adding clearer prohibitions on sensitive data entry, IT approvals for tools and a disclosure approach for documents.
Town staff presented a draft municipal artificial intelligence (AI) policy at the June 1 meeting and the Select Board asked for revisions before final adoption.
Discussion focused on two primary issues: (1) preventing the entry of sensitive or "prohibited" data into unconstrained AI tools, and (2) whether the town should require disclosure when generative AI is used to produce documents or to assist in drafting public communications.
Dr. Heather Goldstone and other members urged strong safeguards for personal, medical and legal data, and asked that any tool not approved by the town's IT department not be used for sensitive inputs. Several members supported some form of public disclosure — for example, a standard line acknowledging that generative AI assisted in producing or editing a document — while noting the private sector is moving in varied directions on disclosure standards.
Board members also discussed operational matters such as training for staff, oversight of AI output (users remain responsible for reviewing output before release), and limiting personal use of AI during working hours.
Staff were directed to return a revised draft for inclusion in the next consent agenda; among requested changes were explicit prohibitions against submitting protected data into unapproved tools and proposed language for disclosure of AI assistance in public-facing documents.
