INDIANAPOLIS — Artificial Intelligence (AI), it's one of the great unknowns of the present and the future. Monday night, Indianapolis leaders voted to move forward to study AI to help aid in several city services.
"I've got some really good ideas in how I think we could take Indianapolis to the next level and be the smartest city in America,” Councilor Michael-Paul Hart of District 18 said.
A major move for Indianapolis, embracing future opportunities technology has to offer.
"AI has a very long spectrum. ChatGPT is at the very top, but there are a lot of things in between from the bottom. The bottom is what's called robotic process automation," Hart said.
A wide spectrum of possibilities that could set the city up for success.
"Everybody knows we have to do something. And I'm trying to take a very pragmatic approach to it," Hart said.
Hart introduced the proposal on November 13th, to establish a study commission to review the city and county's use of AI.
Proposal No. 362, 2023 was introduced by Councilor Hart and was referred to the rules and public policy committee.
The committee met on November 28th. It passed for its final approval from the council Monday night.
"Jumping into a solution isn't something you can do overnight,” Hart said.
Hart said enhancing the use of AI in the city could help patch up growing issues from potholes.
"If we know they are there? How long they have been there? Is it lasting? How can we get crews out there faster? What's the most efficient way," Hart said.
To public safety and communication.
"Our 911 call systems. This is one that I am heavily invested in, I found out over the summer our average wait time is 6-7 minutes on the phone. There is no reason it should be like that and there are ways to reduce that," Hart said.
"I think that it's important to worry about the impact of AI," Yu Jeffery Hu, Professor and AI Expert at Purdue University said.
Hu said as more cities transition into this technology, it's important to look at the overall picture.
"In our research for AI, we think AI could be great, but you still need that human interaction and collaboration," Hu said.
"It's not talking to a robot. It's none of that, it's about making people more efficient," Hart said.
Hart said the city plans to take the next several months to study AI and explore its pros and cons before rolling out its plans in July.
"One thing that should be of concern, which I have a lot of concern for is privacy. There are a lot of scary things that can happen and that is at the forefront of this commission making sure we take into account everyone in this city's privacy rights," Hart said.
Now that it's approved, Hart tells WRTV’s Amber Grigley that the work starts as early as Tuesday, meeting twice weekly for the next several months to start integrating AI technology within the city.
