How should your local government use AI? On the weekend of May 2nd, 40 residents of Snohomish County, WA, began working to answer that question with the help of Civic Genius and a team of experts.
Snohomish County will become the largest place in the U.S. to host a civic assembly, and the first to tackle AI policy using this model. The assembly will bring together a randomly selected, representative group of people over three full weekends to learn about, discuss, and develop recommendations to guide how the county council approaches AI in county services.
This assembly will be highly interactive, emphasizing small-group discussions with experts on the technology behind AI, its applications in government, ethical and environmental considerations, privacy concerns, and more. Participants will truly get a 360-degree view of a complex issue, and will create a compass to guide AI implementation.
Crucially, the county is listening. The Snohomish County Council passed a resolution last summer supporting the process and will formally receive the assembly’s recommendations.
It takes a surprising amount of work to get a 40-person cross-section of a community, especially one that includes people who aren’t already engaged in advocacy and policy. Civic Genius mailed out 15,000 letters to a random selection of addresses in Snohomish County, then used a tool called Panel to randomly pull a representative sample.
The civic assembly will run for three weekends in May and June. Check back soon to see the recommendations!
