Berrien County Commissioner Chokwe Pitchford’s term serving on a National Association of Counties committee on artificial intelligence has come to an end now that the committee has finished meeting and released its report.
Pitchford says he sat on the ethics subcommittee of the Artificial Intelligence Exploratory Committee over the past year, attending around eight meetings. The group sought to make recommendations to local and county governments on the proper use of AI.
Pitchford tells us they wanted to face the technology head-on so counties could better use it.
“This committee was formed when A.I. was starting to rise and you’re starting to see Chat GPT and different integrations into phone companies and answering machines,” Pitchford said. “We knew that there was going to be an impact not only on jobs but on just the way of life for individuals.”
Pitchford says the committee recommends governments not shy away from AI because it’s already being used just about everywhere. Rather, he said they should better understand how AI could help.
“This is an international conversation. Some of our adversaries as a country — China, Russia — they’re already starting to engage with this technology, they’re already starting to invest in it. We have to do the same thing here in the United States of America.”
Pitchford says governments could use AI to help with things like grant applications, payroll, and filing. However, he says the report advises against relying on AI as a quick fix to problems without addressing their root cause. For example, a school shouldn’t respond to overcrowded classes by just having students interact with a chat bot instead of a teacher.
The report has been published and sent to county governments across the country. Locally, Berrien County Administrator Brian Dissette has forwarded it to each township government in the area.
