Cheshire West and Chester Council’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) will be in the spotlight at a meeting this week, with councilors being urged to backtrack on calls to ensure its ethical use.
An all-hands council meeting will be held on Thursday where members will discuss a motion brought forward by Cabinet Secretary and Labor Councilor for Winsford Wharton Nathan Pardoe.
The motion calls on the Council to incorporate the principles of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) Artificial Intelligence Ethics Charter into the development of its own AI standards.
These include:
- Fairness, fairness, non-discrimination, fundamental rights
- Transparency and traceability
- System integrity and confidentiality
- Human agency, oversight, and accountability
- social and environmental responsibility
- continuous improvement
It also urges councils to use AI “responsibly, appropriately and proportionately”, deploying it only where there is a “clear service need” and the use cases, benefits and risks are understood, and ensuring that there is always necessary human oversight.
We also urge Congress to put in place appropriate controls to protect information and support reliable and appropriate responses, and to manage and govern AI tools to only access the data they are authorized to use.
Finally, it calls on councils to provide training to councilors and officers on how to use AI “responsibly and appropriately” and to help combat “inappropriate” uses of AI.
“Human interaction is essential to the success of this council, our platform, and our services,” the notice of motion, titled “Remember Humans,” states.
“Human review, oversight, and correction are essential to realizing the potential of AI and related technologies. Irresponsible use of AI frustrates people, undermines trust, and undermines communication.”
Various local authorities in the UK are increasingly using AI to carry out tasks such as sorting housing applications, flagging social care issues and processing benefits. AI is also being implemented in some social care sectors.
