Efficiency Mastered! AI Solutions for County Communicators and Beyond at MACoCon

At the MACo Summer Conference, an expert panel offered a comprehensive look at how county communicators and broader staff can effectively and responsibly integrate AI into their daily operations.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds transformative potential for county government functions in today’s fast-evolving technological landscape. The panel discussion provided diverse perspectives on how different counties and organizations are harnessing AI to enhance their operations while addressing the associated implementation challenges.

The session, titled “Mastering Efficiency: AI Solutions for County Communicators and Beyond!” was moderated by The Honorable Evan Glass, Council Member for Montgomery County. The panel featured:

  • Stephen Pereira, Director of Technology Services, Calvert County
  • Bryan Doherty, Deputy Chief of Staff, Baltimore City
  • Mo Hasan, Founder & CEO, Intupower

Hon. Evan Glass opened the discussion with insights into Montgomery County’s advancements in AI, particularly through their AI-powered chatbot, “Monty 2.0.” Monty is designed to assist residents with non-emergency inquiries and provide information specific to Montgomery County services.

From the website:

Monty is a multi-lingual Chatbot powered by ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence. Monty is not a real person. Monty is designed to answer non-emergency questions and provide information about Montgomery County, and the services that are available to Montgomery County residents. It does not handle or escalate emergencies. Monty’s knowledge is specific to Montgomery County; it cannot answer questions or provide information outside of Montgomery County 311 information. Monty will not share your information with the public.

To learn more about Monty click here 

The panel then launched into some of the challenges that counties face with implementation. While both county representatives on the panel echoed this sentiment, Bryan Doherty, Deputy Chief of Staff, Baltimore City, brought more light to the area. He focused on Baltimore City’s new Executive Order on the use of regenerative AI among county employees and how it could be used within his communications team. He also highlighted the City’s plans to implement a board that would oversee the use of AI and engage in training for staff members who use AI in daily tasks.

Second, on the panel was Stephen Pereira, Director of Technology Services, Calvert County, who focused on another layer of AI use, ensuring data protection and safety. He advised conference attendees to ask the following questions when setting up their AI models:

  • Can you access the logs? How far back do they go?
  • What assurances do you have against model slip?
  • Will your vendor update after making a change to the underlying code?
  • Who has access to your data?
  • Where is your data going?
  • Who owns the output?
  • Is your data being used to train the model?

To close out his discussion, Pereira highlighted the 5 R’s for AI. AI should be:

  • Reliable: Qualifiable, Consistent, HITL, Unbiased
  • Resilient: Safe, Secure, Private
  • Reversible: Can you undo or correct
  • Reflective: Continuously Improved, Audited Feedback Loops
  • Responsible: Legal, Ethical, Standards, Inclusive, Copyright

Mo Hasan, Founder & CEO of Intupower and the conference’s keynote speaker, concluded the panel with a demo showcasing practical AI applications for county government. His presentation focused on two methods of AI implementation and their applicability across various fields.

The session was on Thursday, August 15, 2024, at the Roland Powell Convention Center in Ocean City, Maryland.

More about MACo’s Summer Conference: