While some city officials are hesitant to embrace AI without more regulation, Dorcey Applyrs encouraged officials to go after low-hanging fruit. In the Albany school district, the 10,000 children speak 47 different languages. AI can help make communication with students — and parents — more seamless. Such applications can be used with little to no risk.

Similarly, Alex Bores, the only legislator in New York with a degree in computer science, has heard from some officials concerned about the time-consuming need to customize AI applications. However, he noted that there are off-the-shelf applications that can be used easily or with little modifications. In addition to translation services, Bores sees both emergency alerts and responding to constituents calling in for relatively simple questions as areas where cities can quickly embrace AI. For constituents, he noted that AI can significantly reduce call wait times for relatively easy questions.