A Cass County Commissioner has been named to a national exploratory committee on artificial intelligence.
That committee was launched by the National Association of Counties.
The committee is to come up with policy recommendations and “best practices” for the use of AI in county governments.
Cass County Commissioner Chad Peterson said his biggest concern about AI is a lack of personal touch.
"I think, if we use it as our default for workforce, whether it's convenience, or removing mundane activities we have to do day by day, my biggest concern is that we start extracting ourselves from the political process, and extract ourselves from the relationships we have with our constituents," Peterson said. "It's easy to say, 'We'll just have a computer do it,' but that's not what makes local government strong. What makes us strong is our relationships with our neighbors."
Peterson said he can see some AI use for “mundane” type activities, such as routing a phone call or filing reports.
"But we need people to do things," Peterson said. "I don't think that's ever going to change."
The advisory committee will meet at the National Association of Counties’ annual conference July 22. The committee plans both in-person and virtual meetings as the work on the issue continues.