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Staff outlines internal uses and safeguards for municipal AI tools
Summary
City staff told the Highland Village City Council they have begun rolling out AI tools across departments — 26 ChatGPT licenses, police-specific tools, and a small Otter.ai pilot — and described a new internal document hub, a freshly adopted AI policy and required training to reduce errors and open-records risks.
City staff presented a high-level overview of how Highland Village is using and planning to use artificial intelligence across departments, stressing internal controls and training to reduce errors. The presenter said the city currently holds 26 ChatGPT licenses (paid at roughly $9,600 per year in total), 44 specialized police licenses for their "Blue Voice" product (about $6,500 per year), and two Otter.ai licenses (paid $385). "A lot of software already comes with some form of AI baked into it," the presenter told council, adding that staff have created a "document hub" sandbox that limits searches to uploaded city ordinances, budget books and other official materials.
The presenter said the city just adopted an AI policy and will fold an AI module into state-mandated cybersecurity training in July; she described a group of "AI ambassadors" across departments who are piloting use cases. She cautioned that generative models can be authoritative-sounding but incorrect: "Whenever it answers, it's never going to tell you, 'I don't know.' It thinks it knows everything," she said, noting training will require users to click cited hyperlinks and verify sources. Council members asked about external searches, open-records implications and subject-matter verification; staff said external-facing AI features are not planned while accuracy and citation controls remain under development.
