I read ‘Unlocking the potential’ (first 702) looking for some indication of what artificial intelligence (AI) might offer local authorities and, unfortunately, found only platitudes diverting us from the real challenges facing councils and the country.
The reality is that councils are about people and providing real, frontline services and hands-on interactions – helping the sick or elderly, filling potholes, emptying bins, protecting the environment, and so on.
There isn’t any shortage of information about how to do things better; the problem lies in the lack of interest in that information.
Looking after an elderly person with mobility problems isn’t completed more quickly if you can talk into your phone in expectation that ChatGPT will convert your conversation into pretty sentences.
Digital inclusion does not reduce loneliness or isolation; if it did, then all those virtual meetings since COVID-19 would have led to a more functional and happier workforce, and more contented residents.
AI will not suddenly make council management interested in the views of its workforce or willing to look for best practice elsewhere to inform their decision-making.
When I look at the scary figures for young people not in education, employment or training, or the increase in mental health problems, or the reality that most council funding is now spent on social care, I do not see a data-analysis gap. What I see is a lack of willingness of senior management and elected politicians to challenge orthodox thinking.
Reports and processes do matter, as do constitutions, regulatory frameworks and strategies. But unless you have a motivated workforce, led by inspiring and visionary leaders who are keen to learn from best practice, wherever it is found, your local authority is treading water and going nowhere.
Expecting AI to fix councils is like using a different fork and expecting it to make food taste better.