January 2024 - Parks & Recreation - 39

Like any tool, AI has the potential to
produce both positive and negative
effects depending on its use.
va, Grammarly and more, have released
their own generative AI products.
As for what park and recreation
professionals most look forward to
seeing, NPP's survey shows Microsoft's
enterprise AI, Copilot, is the
most anticipated. " So basically, imagine
AI woven into your entire Office
suite, " says Bhatt. " Now you can,
from your Teams meeting, record
the transcription, get a summary in
Word, create charts and tables in Excel,
and then use that data to create a
PowerPoint slide deck for you, which
can then be sent to your contacts using
Copilot's help to draft the email.
It's really integrating what you already
do with the AI on the back-end,
all within the Microsoft Office space. "
The Good, the Bad
and the Unknown
Like any tool, AI has the potential
to produce both positive and negative
effects depending on its use.
Unlike most tools, the landscape of
AI is changing so rapidly that it can
be difficult to anticipate issues, and
many outcomes of the widespread
use of AI remain yet to be seen -
potentially leading to unpredictable
and
far-reaching
consequences.
However, many of the drawbacks
of AI can be addressed and extraordinary
advantages harnessed when
it's employed thoughtfully and judiciously.
Here are some current areas
to consider when using AI:
Accuracy and Authenticity
If this article were written by AI,
would you be able to tell? According
to tooltester.com, an average of
53 percent of people can't tell that
ChatGPT content was generated
by AI (tinyurl.com/2p8544cu).
According to NPP's survey, just
more than half of park and recreation
professionals cited accuracy
of information as a top concern
keeping them from using AI. Concurrently,
about 75 percent of respondents
said they hope to use AI
to assist with research.
When it comes to the content Pitti
and his team receive from ChatGPT,
" it's not perfect, " he says. " It requires
a little bit of review, and [staff] know
they're accountable for that. "
Using generated content as a starting
point can be a great timesaver
when working with general information
or topics you're very familiar
with. However, users and consumers
of AI should be wary of misinformation
- either shared inadvertently or
worse, for malicious purposes, such as
deepfakes (tinyurl.com/yc8musbp).
" We have to be mindful of not rushing
to judgment the moment we see
something because it is going to get
harder and harder to know what is
true versus what is fake, " says Bhatt.
One question regarding accuracy
that arose for Vetter and his team
is how long data remains representative.
" What level of decision do
you want to make based off of it? "
he asks. " Oftentimes...we're not as
nimble as we want to be. If you're
getting a set of data that you want
to use for a budget request, how long
do you have to wait before that is
submitted or approved? It might be
your next fiscal cycle, and then at
that point, are you looking back [and
asking], 'Did my data change? Did
my users change?' With Placer.ai, we
can keep those data sets up to date by
regularly refreshing the data. "
Privacy
AI is shaped by data collected from its
users and others. While many companies
take steps to protect privacy, it's no
secret that some are not as careful and
that breaches can happen even when
security measures are put in place.
When City of Edina began using
Placer.ai, staff members' primary
concern was protecting patrons' privacy,
especially regarding location
data gathered from cellphones. " I
think one flag that kept going off for
[staff] is, 'That feels invasive,' " says
McManamon. However, with this
particular platform, data is provided
in the aggregate to maintain anonymity.
" There's no identifying information
about who's driving down the
street at any given time.... It's completely
anonymous, " she explains.
In addition to data privacy concerns,
there's also worry about intellectual
property and copyright infringement,
given that generative AI
learns and draws from information
originating from people. While using
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39
http://tinyurl.com/yc8musbp http://www.tooltester.com http://tinyurl.com/2p8544cu
January 2024 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2024 - Parks & Recreation
