Appendix 3 - Ai Factsheet

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AI Policy – Appendix 3 - Factsheet 
What is AI and what kind of things can it be used for?
AI, or Artificial Intelligence, is computer technology that can perform some tasks that
typically have required human intelligence and in-put. 
It can be used for many things, for example, answering questions, producing minutes
or reports, or supporting customer service. 
How does AI do that?
It does this in different ways. A key thing is that it does everything very quickly. For
example to answer questions the computer technology searches for information
already available on the internet and other digital channels, and from there pulls
together answers based on the information it identifies as relevant to the question
asked. 
What are the potential advantages of AI?
A key benefit is that AI can save employee time and so increase efficiency and
productivity by automating routine tasks, enhancing customer service through
automated answers to questions, and help manage risks for example by predicting
maintenance needs. 
It is also another route for people finding information about the council, for example if
a potential job candidate does a search for Argyll and Bute Council. 
What are its potential risks?
There are significant risks for example in relation to accuracy, information security,
reputation, and political bias. 
• Accuracy: AI pulls together information it identifies as relevant to questions
asked; as the internet holds information that is both accurate and inaccurate,
this means that AI information needs to be checked for accuracy. 
• Information security: AI works in effect like a big library, full of the information
that people upload into it. Once in the AI ‘library’ (or large language model)
the information is available for others to find. Confidential or sensitive
information therefore is not secure.
• Reputation: as AI does not distinguish between what is accurate or inaccurate
information, or confidential or non-sensitive information, it could produce
reputationally damaging information. 
Why do we need a policy for how the council uses it?
We need a policy because, as outlined above, AI offers both advantages and risks to
the council. A policy would be there to help employees assess how to make effective
use of AI and work in the interests of the council and communities in doing so. 
AI has been available for some time, but with the advent of GenAi, where new
content can be created in response to a user’s prompt from search engines such as
Google and Bing, the technology is now much more accessible and therefore we
have to manage all associated risks.