By Lexi McFarlane, Times Chronicle
A new AI system has been approved for internal use within the Town of Oliver, with the goal of keeping things more organized.
Brieanne Mader, the Town’s Deputy Corporate Officer, brought a recommendation to Council asking for the Town’s AI policy to be amended to allow the use of the Laserfiche AI system. Previously, only Microsoft Copilot’s AI function was permitted to be used on devices belonging to the Town.
Laserfiche is the system currently used to manage the Town’s historical records management, and Mader’s report states that enabling its AI function would help staff with “data review, summarization, and analysis” while providing support on matters pertaining to the documents.
The AI policy was first approved last year to mitigate risks posed by the rapid rise in AI. Copilot was permitted since it is an internal AI system on the Town’s Microsoft devices, but external AI systems are not allowed to be used on Town devices under the AI policy. Approving the Laserfiche AI function would have a similar effect to approving Copilot, given both are internal AL systems within the Town’s devices.
As part of the policy, staff are also required to review content using AI for verification, before using the systems. Confidential information cannot be entered into any AI systems, and attribute any items using AI in presentation.
The policy amendment was approved by Council without any additional discussion.
