MONTICELLO- Dan Hust, Sullivan County Director of Communications, traveled to New York City last week to participate in a panel discussion on utilizing AI (artificial intelligence) in government.
Hust spoke about the county’s small-scale, rural application of this AI, through the county’s web-based chatbot named “Saige.”
“I wanted to show how it’s possible for a lightly populated, upstate municipality to still undertake industry-leading steps to better serve taxpayers,” said Hust. He shared shared that, for example, calls to the County Clerk’s office dropped by nearly two-thirds within four months of “Saige’s” debut.
“It was able to answer questions like ‘Where are you located?’ and ‘What are your hours?’ – freeing up our staff to focus on the more complex needs of the public,” said Hust. “We aren’t implementing AI to replace staff but to complement and support them.”
Hust noted that Sullivan County has chosen to adopt AI before virtually any other similarly-sized municipality in the nation and that he believes smaller municipalities will follow suit.
“I was honored to have had the opportunity to share our experiences and successes in harnessing a small piece of AI’s potential for the public good,” said Hust. “And I am proud to be part of a team dedicated to utilizing cutting-edge technologies to enhance efficiency, transparency, and accessibility in serving our community. The future is wide open, and we look forward to improving and expanding generative AI’s capabilities at the local level.”
To optimize the performance of the county’s new AI system, Hust encourages the public to ask questions of “Saige” and to let it know when it’s gotten an answer right or wrong by clicking “Helpful” or “Not Helpful.” The chatbot has the ability to “learn” from this feedback to further optimize its performance.
To try out the new tech, visit www.sullivanny.us and click on the dialog box in the lower righthand of the screen.
