The Lyndeborough Select Board unanimously approved a new artificial intelligence policy Wednesday that applies to all town employees, elected officials and volunteers when they are working for the town.
More recently, Town Administrator Geoffrey Allen has used AI to record and write minutes for meetings. That has allowed the town to eliminate minute-taking volunteers, saving $12,000.
The town currently works with ClerkMinutes, an AI service for municipal meetings, to record and write the minutes.
Town employees also use AI for research and drafting documents, which has led to cuts in positions and hours at the town office. Allen said the finance coordinator and land-use coordinator now work 24 hours a week instead of 32.
Allen said he was initially worried about creating an AI policy for the town because the technology changes so quickly, so he kept the policy intentionally vague.
Once the town’s insurance company and attorney approved the policy, Allen presented it to the Select Board for approval.
He clarified that the town uses an enterprise lockdown feature on its Microsoft 365 Copilot that prevents information entered from being used to train public AI models.
As outlined in the policy’s prohibited uses section, confidential information will not be uploaded.
Before the board approved the policy, Select Board member Howard Ray said the board felt this was a way to “streamline” work.
“We care and want to protect information that is within these walls here, but we also want to be able to streamline the work we can do (and) be efficient in what we do,” he said.
Allen said Lyndeborough is one of the first towns he’s seen with an AI policy.