Blue Ridge Public Radio

This Friday, we’ve got stories about a forthcoming bike park in Swannanoa, local cyclosporiasis cases, wildlife crossings and AI use by the government. Want to learn more? Read all of these stories and more in full on our website.
 
✍️ Reporting by Helen Chickering, Felicia Sonmez, Laura Hackett (), Katie Myers () and Daniel Walton 
 
📷 Photos by Melanie Moser, Felicia Sonmez, Gerard Albert III, National Parks Conservation Association, Laura Hackett, Gary Peeples

When Asheville’s Assistant City Manager Ben Woody sits down to consider complex community feedback or the intricacies of development proposals, he’s rarely working by himself. Instead, he has been partnering with a digital twin: Gemini, Google’s generative artificial intelligence assistant.

On Asheville’s ongoing Anti-Displacement and Affordable Housing Project, for example, Gemini summarized the tangled strands of discussion that took place during a stakeholder workshop with at least 18 participating organizations. The AI has also compared development projects and helped Woody find specific points buried in lengthy academic reports.

Like the city of Asheville, other local governments across Buncombe County have started to explore AI’s potential for supporting staff. In most cases, these efforts are still in the very early stages; most area municipalities don’t have formal public-facing policies for how AI can or should be used.

FULL STORY IN THE COMMENTS 👇

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