To receive a report from the Business Intelligence and Change Manager.

The Chairman welcomed Corey Gooch, Business Intelligence and Change Manager to the Meeting.

The Business Intelligence and Change Manager presented Members with the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy, pages 51 to 64 of the Agenda refer.

Members were advised that the Policy had returned to the Committee following the opportunity for further Members to attend a planned AI briefing session, and that the policy was now being presented for consideration and comments to ensure that the Overview Committee had the opportunity to input into the policy prior to consideration by the Executive Board.

Members were invited to put their comments and questions forward.

·         A Member queried the number of participants who attended the two briefing sessions.   In response, the Assistant Director – Corporate advised Members that approximately 25 Members across the Partnership were in attendance. The Chairman further advised Members that feedback on the briefings had been positive.

·         In reference to Paragraph 3.6 of the Artificial Intelligence Policy titled ‘Vendors’, a Member queried whether the term referred to other organisations that supplied ELDC with AI or whether it was referring to people that used AI, page 60 of the Agenda refers.  In response, the Business Intelligence and Change Manager confirmed that term ‘Vendors’ referred to organisations who supplied AI to the Council.

·         A Member made a request for an additional item for inclusion in the policy which was to establish and clarify who ultimately owned the technology.

·         A Member further commented that there was significant opportunities and threats with AI and that it was important to determine who owned the companies that were supplying the Council and what their motives were.   In response, the Business Intelligence and Change Manager assured Members that a specific reference would be included in the Policy and that background information would be established during procurement exercises.  The Business Intelligence and Change Manager further assured Members that vigorous checks would be undertaken to determine who owned the data and outline the areas of consent.

·         In reference to Paragraph 3.8.1 of the Artificial Intelligence Policy titled ‘Accuracy’, a Member queried example situations such as real-time telephone enquires where it was not possible to review the accuracy of the responses provided, page 61 of the Agenda refers.  In response, the Business Intelligence and Change Manager explained to Members that live responses could not be reviewed each time and that every AI system worked on a scripted basis.  Members were further advised that this would allow the Council to have a certain level of control and could refer customers to a human customer contact should they not be able to achieve the right response after a certain number of attempts.  The Business Intelligence and Change Manager assured Members that the responses and language would be reviewed, and that testing would be undertaken to prevent users becoming frustrated with the system.

·         Members commented on experience with the Impy System that was being used by Lincolnshire County Council and that AI learned and improved through scripting.

·         A Member queried whether the AI system would be checked to ensure that bias was not introduced.  In response, the Business Intelligence and Change Manager assured Members that any system the Council utilised would go through vigorous testing and ongoing monitoring.  Members were assured that the Council would not rely on AI systems for significant decision making and that AI would only be implemented for acting upon basic requests.

·         A Member commented that ELDC should not be reliant on PSPS Limited and should be utilising AI in-house.

·         A Member further commented that the Council should form a partnership with the University of Lincoln to save money and bring technology innovations to ELDC.  In response, the Assistant Director – Corporate advised Members that opportunities with the University of Lincoln could be explored and that PSPS had greater potential use of AI in their current services such as Revenues and Benefits.  The Assistant Director – Corporate further advised Members that ELDC continued to look for opportunities and that other Councils’ uses of AI was being examined as part of the Annual Delivery Plan.

·         The Business Intelligence and Change Manager introduced Natalie Drury, Digital Transformation Officer, and assured Members that the team would continue to look for opportunities and work with PSPS to improve efficiencies for all the Partnership Councils.

·         A Member queried whether knowledge was shared from the Local Government Association (LGA).  In response, the Business Intelligence and Change Manager informed Members that he sat on LGA networks and frequently searched for opportunities which included examining the Amazon Languages Service Tool which could enable savings on costs and resources.

·         The Chairman queried whether the Artificial Intelligence Policy was being presented to Full Council or Executive Board for approval.  In response, the Assistant Director - Corporate confirmed that the policy was being presented to the Executive Board on 6th November 2024.

No further comments or questions were received.

The Chairman thanked the Business Intelligence and Change Manager for his report.

Following which it was,

RESOLVED:

That the Artificial Intelligence Policy be noted and presented to the Executive Board for approval.

N.B The Business Intelligence and Change Manager and Digital Transformation Officer left the Meeting at 10.52am.