AUSTIN, Texas — Some city of Austin leaders are raising concerns about the potential influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on future city council meetings.
It seems to stem from a call council members took during public comment last Thursday.
It's unclear if the call itself was AI-generated, but it featured a voice who called themselves a "Zionist" and said that pro-Israel Austinites are organizing and plan to use AI software to sign people up for public comment at future council meetings to "take all the spots going forward."
The call claimed they are fighting all the public comments and protests over the past year from pro-Palestine and antiwar groups who want Austin leaders to pass a resolution that condemns the fight in Gaza and join calls for a cease-fire.
As the conflict between Hamas and Israel has ramped up since October 2023, there has been nothing on the Austin City Council's agendas to pass any kind of a similar resolution.
But that call from Thursday's meeting sparked concern from Mayor Kirk Watson.
He posted on the city council's message board over the weekend, saying he and the city clerk met after Thursday's meeting to talk about how to prevent AI-generated calls in the future.
Watson wrote, "Our priority is protecting the ability of our public to communicate with us and to prevent misuse and abuse of the system."
He also asked council members to pass along their thoughts on how to address the issue in the future.
Dr. Samantha Shorey is a visiting assistant professor who studies AI. She is also raising concerns about the impact the technology could have on city government.
"The potential, in the future, [is] for this to be amplified to such a degree that it makes city council comment completely jammed up and full of spam and not able to be the useful public forum that we need for democratic participation," Shorey said.
Public comment at city council meetings can take hours, and people can sign up online or in person. Potential speakers can register online starting at 10 a.m. the Monday before a meeting and up until noon the day before, while in-person speakers can register at City Hall shortly after noon the day before a meeting and up until 45 minutes before a meeting begins.
Shorey said setting clear acceptable use policies for AI will be key to combating these calls in the future.
"Declaration about when AI is being used so people can decide for themselves whether or not to trust that information," Shorey said.
It is staying on top of the rapidly evolving technology to maintain people's trust in our city's democracy.
"We are in a moment of public concern over AI technologies," Shorey said.
It is still unclear how the call was made or who was responsible for it. In his note, Watson said he is including the city manager and the deputy city manager in a discussion to prevent misuse and abuse of the system.