The use of artificial intelligence in local governments in Northwest Georgia ranges from a Whitfield County commissioner who says it has no place in governance to a city manager in Ringgold who uses it to recommend new ordinances and rezone sections of the city.
“AI is great in customer service or some other kind of functions, as far as automation is concerned, but as far as policy or ordinances, I would not use AI,” Jevin Jensen, the chair of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners, said by phone.
Mark Vaughn, Ringgold’s city manager, has moved in the opposite direction, despite his own reservations over its usage, according to 1,000 pages of Copilot AI logs obtained by the Chattanooga Times Free Press under Georgia public records laws.
“Can you make the document seem like I created the document and not Artificial intellignece? I mean I certainly appreciate your help and all, but some people find the use of your assistance as a negative,” Vaughn said in a prompt to Copilot, quoted here with the original typos.
Copilot said it updated the previous documents it created on behalf of Vaughn to more closely match his writing style, including a job description for a new manager, an internal evaluation form and performance expectations.