Words on a blue flag written in a bizarre language. A child’s legless body melds with a bench. Five men of different sizes, all wearing the same purple polo shirt, stare off at the mountain landscape.

This surreal image is a concept design for a monument commemorating the United States’ 250th anniversary, planned for installation somewhere in Heber City this year. The concept design was generated by city staff using artificial intelligence. 

In recent years, the use of generative AI has become increasingly common across workplaces and areas of life, including small-town government. That’s why the Heber City Council adopted a policy guiding the use of AI by city employees.

The approach is neither to encourage nor discourage AI use, but to set guardrails for its inevitable use. 

During an initial discussion about the policy in January, City Councilor Aaron Cheatwood said, “Rather than restricting, teaching and explaining and understanding is way more powerful.”

That’s why all employees will be required to complete quarterly, informative trainings about AI through Executech, the business providing IT support for Heber City.

AI use will be approved by department heads and monitored by the city’s IT director, Anthon Beales.

The use of free AI tools is restricted. That’s because free AI tools generally have fewer privacy protections, explained Executive Assistant to the City Manager Lainee Meyers, who wrote the policy.

“They often store and often reuse the data that is entered into them. That can most certainly create an unintentional risk of sharing sensitive information,” she said.

For that same reason, city staff are not allowed to enter confidential, protected or personally identifiable information — such as addresses, names and phone numbers — into any AI tool unless authorized by a department head, or if the tool is explicitly approved for such use.

The Heber City Police Department currently uses two AI tools that handle sensitive information. 

The first is Code Four, which generates first drafts of police reports based on body cam video and audio, which the Police Department purchased in January following a two-month free trial period.

The second is Blue Voice, an AI assistant that searches from any data the Police Department enters into it, which includes its policy manual, city code, police officers’ phone numbers and addresses and gate codes for areas like the animal shelter and gated communities.

Both programs are compliant with the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Systems Security Policy.

Other than Code Four and Blue Voice, the only other AI software currently used by city employees is the Microsoft Copilot assistant. Information entered into Microsoft Copilot is documented within a local government cloud. 

If AI is used to contribute to materials intended for elected officials or the public — including public notices, staff reports and web content — a disclosure including what software was used is required.

In that case, all drafts, prompts and outputs that resulted in the product are subject to records retention, meaning a member of the public could submit a Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) request to access those records.

Some uses of AI are prohibited per the policy, including using AI to make a final decision related to hiring, termination or other staffing concerns, or to determine eligibility for public services or benefits.

The policy emphasizes that final decisions must be made by humans rather than AI and that humans are ultimately responsible for any products or decisions made with the assistance of AI.

Heber City is not the first municipality in Wasatch County to consider an AI policy. Midway City Attorney Corbin Gordon proposed a similar policy to the City Council last month, which the city is still drafting. 

The Wasatch County government has not considered a similar policy. However, County Councilor Erik Rowland used AI last month to analyze the Utah Department of Transportation’s draft environmental impact statement for the Heber Valley bypass. That AI analysis served as inspiration for a letter he drafted to UDOT criticizing its proposed route. Elected officials from across Wasatch County signed it.

While Heber City’s AI policy does not explicitly encourage or discourage use of the technology, Cheatwood believes AI could have untapped benefits for city staff.

“It saves tons of time,” he said. “I think internally, we can encourage (usage) the right way. We know that every (department) says (they’re) understaffed. What can you give up?”

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