Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has decided to halt the citywide rollout of Microsoft’s AI Copilot chatbot for city employees, diverging from the ambitious artificial intelligence initiatives set forth by her predecessor, Bruce Harrell. The decision comes as part of Wilson’s efforts to align the AI direction with her administration’s priorities, ensuring a thoughtful and responsible approach to technology implementation.
Last year, Harrell had announced plans to integrate AI into various city services, aiming to position Seattle as a “national leader in responsible artificial intelligence implementation.” The initial phase included testing Microsoft’s Copilot with 500 city employees, which yielded largely positive feedback. A survey of 185 users indicated that Copilot provided “significant business value and strong potential to boost productivity and streamline workflows,” with employees reporting an average savings of two and a half hours weekly in tasks such as drafting documents and summarizing meeting notes.
Despite this favorable response, Wilson’s administration aims to pause the rollout initially scheduled for late February to ensure that future AI efforts are consistent with their vision for the city’s technological landscape. “The Wilson administration took the opportunity to pause Copilot efforts started under the previous administration to ensure the AI direction reflected their priorities in a thoughtful and responsible manner,” said Megan Erb, a spokesperson for the city’s IT department.
Erb emphasized that the phased approach would guarantee that any adopted AI tools meet privacy and security requirements, while also delivering clear benefits to employees. While the broader rollout is delayed, the group of 500 employees who participated in the pilot can continue using Copilot during this period.
Seattle, like many local governments, utilizes Microsoft 365, making Copilot available at no additional cost. However, due to security concerns, some local entities have instructed staff to exclusively use Copilot and avoid other chatbots such as ChatGPT. While Seattle employees are not authorized to use ChatGPT, public records obtained by KNKX revealed that some employees had experimented with it for tasks including email drafting and presentation creation prior to Wilson’s tenure.
Under Harrell’s leadership, Seattle had unveiled a comprehensive AI plan that included initiatives such as employee training, a framework for evaluating AI tools, and the establishment of a new “AI officer” position. In December, Lisa Qian, a former senior manager of data science for LinkedIn, was appointed to this role, marking a significant step in the city’s commitment to responsible AI implementation.
Seattle also adopted a formal AI policy in 2023, becoming one of the first cities in the U.S. to do so. This policy mandates attribution for substantial AI-generated text used in final products and prohibits AI applications in hiring decisions and facial recognition. Furthermore, it incorporates a “human-in-the-loop” approach to ensure that all AI-generated content is reviewed by personnel.
While the rollout of Copilot is temporarily paused, Erb confirmed that the city is continuing to hold educational roadshows for various departments and is advancing foundational work in data governance and readiness. The pause in Copilot’s deployment comes amid other AI initiatives already being tested across the city. These include partnerships with CivCheck to expedite permitting processes and with C3.ai and Microsoft to analyze near-miss car incidents to identify hazardous streets. Seattle has also piloted a public-facing AI chatbot called “SEAMore Voice.”
Aside from Copilot, the only other AI chatbot that has completed Seattle’s required privacy and security review is the “ESRI Support Chatbot,” designed for troubleshooting geographic information systems tools used by select staff in a few departments. During recent budget discussions, the Seattle City Council requested quarterly reports on AI usage from the IT department, which is evaluating ongoing pilot programs and anticipates submitting its first report in April.
The decision to pause Copilot follows the resignation of Rob Lloyd, Seattle’s IT director appointed by Harrell. As the city navigates these changes, the emphasis remains on ensuring that AI tools are responsibly integrated, reflecting the values and priorities of the current administration while still aiming to harness the benefits of emerging technologies.
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