1001 Ways to Use ChatGPT

What are 1,001 ways to use ChatGPT? More importantly, how can municipal governments use generative artificial intelligence to deliver better services to residents and visitors?

The City of Fort Worth explored those questions during its first Big Ideas Summit, created in partnership with Strategic Government Resources. Nearly 100 participants representing 21 cities joined colleagues from DFW Airport and the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

The gathering offered an early look at both the opportunities and responsibilities associated with generative AI. A city might use these tools to summarize information, improve access to services, support employees, analyze public input, or help residents find answers more quickly. But every potential use also raises questions involving privacy, accuracy, bias, transparency, and accountability.

That is why guardrails must develop alongside experimentation. Public-sector innovation carries a special responsibility because residents may have no alternative provider for an essential service. A tool that saves time but produces unreliable information can create more harm than value.

The most productive approach is human-centered. Begin with the resident or employee need, determine whether AI is an appropriate tool, test carefully, and keep human judgment involved where the consequences matter.

The summit also demonstrated the importance of cities learning together. No community needs to solve every challenge independently. Sharing early successes and mistakes can help public organizations move responsibly without moving alone.

Generative AI has developed rapidly since that first summit, but the central question remains the same: not simply what can the technology do, but what should we ask it to do in service of people?

This innovation work is still pretty cool. It is also work worth approaching with care.