WEST CHESTER, Ohio — A Mason-based technology company will guide West Chester toward the integration of artificial intelligence after a board of directors vote green-lighted a $50,000 deal with CybrCastle.
Sabrina Donley, head of the Secure AI practice at CybrCastle, said the firm’s role would be to “future-proof” government in a rapidly changing technology environment.
CEO Steve Dong said artificial intelligence can streamline redundant tasks that often take weeks or months, like reviewing building proposals or zoning variances.
“It can actually process a large amount of data very quickly, faster than any human, and also be able to pull data from anywhere and get it done very quickly,” Dong said.
Township Administrator Larry Burks said the government wants to be proactive in the face of waves of technological change.
“I don’t want to be overwhelmed,” Burks said. “If we have the technology or a system to put in place to help my team perform better, I’m all for it.”
Donley said AI could help the municipality and people who need to interact with it in several ways.
She said, for example, that police forces could use it to better track and maintain the police fleet, or that road officers could use AI to track complaints about road conditions following ‘a snowstorm. AI could compile and prioritize information from these complaints to allow a dispatcher to better dispatch plows to specific areas.
This last example could help Dong and Donley personally since they live in West Chester.
“I think in some ways it gives us perspective: OK, we’re customers in this area as well. We want to make sure this is handled properly,” Donley said.
Dong said properly managing an AI system would be critical to its success.
“AI can multiply what you’re already good at or multiply what you’re bad at,” he said. “It can only multiply. It cannot create.”
A multi-week training and assessment program aimed at training staff to work with AI and establish appropriate protocols for its use will begin on Wednesday.
Burks said there is no specific timeline for AI integration, but he invited WCPO to return to the municipality once their initial five-phase training is complete.
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