Councillor urges Cork City Council to limit AI usage 

A Labour Party councillor has warned against the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by Cork City Council. 

Monday’s council meeting heard concerns that jobs could be lost and replaced with AI.

Peter Horgan submitted a motion, proposing that the council limit the use of AI and ensure jobs are not replaced by it, and also that it write to all other local authorities to encourage them to do the same.

Ruth Buckley, chief information officer at Cork City Council, said that the council “recognises the many potential opportunities for improved customer service, efficiencies and innovation, due to new AI technologies”.

Sectoral guidance, at a national level, on the use of AI, will be published to encourage a uniform approach to its adoption across all 31 local authorities, Ms Buckley said, following the unanimous adoption of the EU AI Act by all members states in February of 2024, which is likely to be adopted into legislation in each country by 2028.

“In the interim, Cork City Council ICT has prepared a draft amendment to the information systems acceptable usage policy, governing the use of all cyber assets by staff and external parties.” 

This “caters for the use of AI in a way that is reasonable and minimises any risk of data leakage, data loss or other unintended consequences”, Ms Buckley said, adding that they are looking at areas where it should not be used, including for taking notes of meetings.

“AI is at a very early stage of adoption by the public sector in general and a cautious approach within the existing and new legal framework will be adopted in line with best practice,” Ms Buckley said.

Mr Horgan acknowledged that AI is unavoidable, but warned against it replacing jobs.

“There are those who believe AI is the next salvation for mankind,” Mr Horgan said. 

“There’s no doubt that AI will be a massive part of our lives going forward, but we should be cautious. 

“We must ensure, as a local authority, that roles will not be subsumed by the march of AI and supposed cost savings on people’s salaries and human interaction levels,” he said.

“Yes, AI will lead to job changes and improvements, but I’ve yet to meet any device of artificial intelligence that will fix a door, resurface a road, or help a family facing homelessness. 

“I’m incredibly proud that Cork City Council has a manned service centre with real people answering calls and emails and has not succumbed to the chatbot fad across all customer service sites.

“We’ve seen online ads of the Taoiseach and Tánaiste and photos on Facebook during elections, and since, that don’t quite adhere to reality. 

“We saw it in the local and general elections; there have been candidates who have used AI on their posters.

“It’s important that voters have confidence in what is being portrayed of their representatives is actually truthful, and it is something the Electoral Commission needs to seriously tackle, in real time.”