SPOKANE, Wash. — As Congress considers limiting states’ ability to regulate artificial intelligence, some local cities in our region are already putting AI tools to work in their day-to-day operations.
The City of Spokane adopted an internal AI policy six months ago. One of its first implementations is a language translator application used by city employees. City spokesperson Erin Hut said the tool helps translate documents, like city council agendas, into multiple languages, aiming to make city information more accessible to Spokane’s diverse community.
Further north, Sandpoint’s planning department has found AI useful for community engagement and government efficiency. In February, Planning Director Jason Welker used AI to summarize a large number of public and written comments related to a proposed parking fee plan. The AI-generated summary, along with the prompt used to create it, was included in a Planning and Zoning Committee agenda…