Trying AI 3 min read
Do we need an AI policy before staff start using AI?
You need clear rules before staff start. A one-page starter set, and the gaps reviewers usually find.
Part of the path I’m ready to try AI
You need clear rules before staff start. A full policy can come alongside. A policy on its own doesn’t change what people do on Monday. Staff also need an approved place to use AI, a one-page set of rules they can remember, and practical training on their own work.
Why a policy alone doesn’t change behaviour
Many local governments spend months on an AI policy before anyone can use an approved tool. During those months, staff who need help with the work use AI anyway, on personal accounts. The policy arrives into a habit that has already formed.
The habit is specific. In GovAI, half of all messages start with staff pasting in their own documents, and nearly half include sensitive information. Rules that don’t speak to pasting documents miss most of what staff actually do.
So the order that works is: an approved tool, a short set of rules, training on real work, and a full policy developed alongside, informed by what you learn.
A one-page starter set of rules
Copy this, adapt it, and have legal, HR, and IT sign off. It’s meant to be read in two minutes.
| Rule | What it means for staff |
|---|---|
| Use the approved tool for work. | City or county work goes into [approved tool], not a personal account or a free app on your phone. |
| Share only what the task needs. | Remove names, addresses, and case numbers when the task doesn’t need them. Summarize instead of pasting whole files. |
| Some things never go in. | Legal advice, anything under a records hold, personnel investigations, and decisions that aren’t public yet, unless [named person] has approved it for that work. |
| A person reviews before anything goes out. | Nothing AI drafts is published, sent to a resident, or used in a decision until a person has checked it. |
| You own what you send. | AI is a drafting tool. The name on the email or the report is yours. |
| Treat AI work like other work records. | What you write about city or county business may be a public record. Follow the same retention rules you would for email. |
| Ask when you’re not sure. | Questions go to [AI lead or department champion]. |
What reviewers usually find missing
When legal, HR, and IT review a first draft, the same gaps come up:
- Records. Whether AI conversations and outputs are records, and how long they’re kept. Rules differ by state and province, so ask your counsel.
- Disclosure. Whether residents are told when AI helped draft a public notice or a reply. Decide one way and write it down.
- What supervisors can see. Staff should know whether leaders look at overall patterns or individual conversations.
- Buying AI tools. Who approves a new AI tool, so departments don’t each sign up for their own.
- The front counter. In GovAI, front counter requests carry more sensitive material than Finance’s. Rules written with only HR and legal in mind miss the staff handling residents’ details all day.
AI can help write the policy itself
- Research: “Summarize the main parts of AI use policies published by local governments in our state.”
- First draft: “Draft an AI use policy for a town of 20,000, using our vacation policy as the format.”
- Stress test: “Given this draft, what situations would leave a front counter clerk unsure what to do?”
- Compare: “Compare these two policies and point out anything confusing for employees.”
Ask the draft to list the assumptions it made. Those are the first things your team checks.
Who signs off, and in what order
- IT confirms the approved tool and what it can see and keep.
- Legal reviews records, disclosure, and what never goes in.
- HR reviews what supervisors can see and how the rules apply to staff.
- The city or county manager approves and announces it, ideally while using AI on real work.
AI speeds up the drafting. People own the decision.
Try this week
Take the one-page rules above and walk them past three people: a department head, a front counter clerk, and someone in IT. Ask each one, “What would you still be unsure about?” Their answers are your first edits.
Once the rules are in place, the next question is where to use AI first: How do we choose the first job for AI?