Detroit City Council members were surprised Tuesday to hear artificial intelligence was being used to help residents who called the city for help at the end of last year.
Believe In AI provided the city with an “emotionally intelligent agent” dubbed “Emily,” which answered calls to the Department of Neighborhoods in Districts 3 and 4 over 12 weeks. Co-Founder Mario Kelly said the chatbot successfully replaced district managers who struggle to keep up with calls from residents, advocating for expanding the tool citywide.
Council members had mixed reactions. Angela Whitfield-Calloway said it should have been approved by the council before being tested and was frustrated that a pamphlet of metrics Kelly provided had the city’s seal on it. Council Member Latisha Johnson said she didn’t know the bot was being used in her district until hearing about it during Tuesday’s meeting. She was curious to learn more about the benefits and potential downsides.
Councilman Scott Benson vouched for the AI chatbot, saying he met with the creators last fall and was impressed with the results. Benson said it’s a sophisticated tool that should be considered for permanent use, arguing that district managers can’t keep up with the high volume of calls. Kelly said the bot can handle 18 calls at once.
“Their call volume is overwhelming, and to have two or three people handle that just isn’t possible,” Benson said.
Believe in AI Co-Founder Gabe Wilson said the chatbot handled 1,750 calls with zero people being put on hold. Wilson said between two-thirds and three-quarters of calls were resolved without having to be routed to a district manager.
Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero said she’s not supportive of using chatbots to answer residents in her district, arguing that it could cause people to lose their jobs. Santiago-Romero said the city should slow down efforts to offload human labor and interactions to artificial machines.
Each council member has their own community liaisons who answer constituent questions. Critics of Detroit’s district-based system historically argued that changing representation from at-large seats gave residents fewer advocates and invited the potential for uneven attention depending on which district they live in.
City Council President James Tate, whose time on the council predates the district system adopted in 2013, said each resident has access to at least three advocates on the council: their district representative and at-large members Mary Waters and Coleman A. Young II.
“I’ve been the only council member in District 1 thus far, and being able to figure out how the council district members and the at-large members work together is something that is a priority to me,” Tate said. “Getting information out to the community on how to reach out to us is critical so you don’t feel the only way we hear you is if you come down and yell at us.”