The English local authority wants to support its response teams with automated technology that can deal with general communications from the public.
One of the county’s flattest and lowest-lying counties, Cambridgeshire, is prone to flooding, and according to the administration’s own analysis, fly tipping of large items in ditches and dykes often exacerbates the issue.
The authority has now issued a procurement notice, although firms have not been formally invited to bid at this stage. Instead, the council wants feedback in the form of an early engagement process. Companies are being asked to submit proof of concept for AI tools that can help in the event of flooding, community infrastructure disruption.
‘We aim to source an AI chat bot and reporting tool that users can be signposted to primarily while outdoors in the affected area, and access immediately and easily on their smartphone, such as via a weblink or QR code,’ Cambridgeshire County Council said in the procurement notice. ‘The AI chat will then inform them of the impact of fly tipping on their community in a humanistic friendly but informative way, so they feel like they are chatting with a real person.’
Five fundamental features will be required from the AI chatbot. These include an online hub accessible via QR code, signage displaying the code in flooding hotspots, reporting functionality, advanced language skills capable of sentiment analysis and the delivery of ‘humanistic answers’, and data capture.
‘The technology will be accessible to a wide age range via smartphones and can also be promoted through local community groups,’ the procurement notice continued. ‘The system will also give residents the opportunity to report fly tipping to the relevant council authorities, giving them agency in the process of reducing risk. By adding a reporting tool which can be time coded this allows local authorities to consult CCTV for evidence against fly tippers, this empowers the community further and addresses some mental health and wellbeing concerns’
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