A Kentucky Town Experimented With AI: A Stunning Success
Earlier this year, a small town in Kentucky conducted an ambitious experiment aimed at involving its community in local governance using artificial intelligence. Bowling Green, Kentucky’s third-largest city, part of Warren County, faces a significant population increase by 2050. To address this, local officials recognized the importance of gathering community input effectively.
Traditional town halls usually draw limited participation, often from those with strong negative opinions. Conversely, online surveys could amass vast datasets, hard to analyze effectively. Therefore, the county officials took a different approach, leveraging AI to assist in gathering meaningful community insights. This resulted in a month-long online survey where about 10% of Bowling Green’s population participated, sharing their views on city policy changes. The AI synthesized these responses into a public policy report available for everyone to access on their website.
Doug Gorman, the judge executive of Warren County, noted, "If I have a town hall meeting on these topics, 23 people show up. And what we just conducted was the largest town hall in America."
To facilitate this process, the county collaborated with a local strategy firm, launching a website in February where residents submitted anonymous ideas using Pol.is, an open-source polling platform known for its success in Taiwan. Participants could also vote on others’ answers. Over 33 days, nearly 8,000 residents contributed, resulting in over a million interactions and around 4,000 unique ideas.
These submissions were evaluated using "Sensemaker," an AI tool from Google’s Jigsaw, which helped categorize feedback into actionable insights. Ultimately, about 2,370 ideas were identified that received over 80% agreement among participants. Consensus topics included enhancing healthcare access and repurposing retail spaces.
The online format allowed the county to engage demographics previously underrepresented, such as immigrants and individuals with inflexible work schedules, by offering multilingual survey options. This initiative was particularly beneficial for residents like Daniel Tarnagda, an immigrant from Burkina Faso, who appreciated the inclusivity.
Continued analysis of these results is underway to develop concrete policy recommendations, potentially saving about 28 work days, according to a Jigsaw survey.
The Promise and Challenge of AI
The endeavor was Sensemaker’s first substantial implementation and revealed how depoliticized, anonymous idea-sharing could highlight common ground across divides, according to Jigsaw’s CEO, Yasmin Green. This alignment of views without political labels reduced the risk of misconceptions about opposing views.
However, deploying AI in civic spaces brings privacy and bias concerns. Despite guarantees that no personal data was retained, future implementations must navigate potential ethical challenges vigilantly. AI biases, as seen in other applications, could undermine neutrality unless addressed.
If adequately managed, such AI tools could redefine civic engagement, mitigating political polarization and fostering constructive community discourse, echoing Kentucky’s success.
