What Role Does Data Play in AI? A Local Government Perspective

In our conversations with council officers nationwide, we've noticed a common question: "We keep hearing about data being the fuel for AI—but what does that actually mean for our work?"

Let's break down the essential relationship between data and AI in ways that matter for your council's operations.

The Foundation of Every AI System

At its core, every AI system—whether it's analysing planning applications or helping predict social care demand—relies on data. This isn't just a technical detail; it's fundamental to understanding how these systems work in your council.

AI, particularly machine learning models, needs data to learn from. Without data, these systems can't function. They analyse patterns in your council's data to make predictions, decisions, and generate insights that would take staff significantly longer to produce manually.

What Kind of Data Matters?

The type of data needed depends entirely on what you want your AI system to do:

• Text generation systems (like those that might draft standard communications) need text data
• Traffic prediction systems need sensor data from roads and junctions
• Housing repair prediction tools need historical maintenance records

For council services, this often means working with data about real people and communities—which brings both opportunities and responsibilities.

Quality Over Quantity

Having massive amounts of data isn't necessarily helpful if that data doesn't accurately represent your community or service needs. For local government, data quality matters tremendously.

Consider a scenario where your council wants to use AI to improve early intervention services. If your historical data primarily comes from certain neighbourhoods or demographic groups, the AI's insights will be skewed—potentially reinforcing existing service gaps rather than helping close them.

Similarly, using data collected during unusual periods (like lockdowns or school holidays) might lead to misleading conclusions about service needs during normal operations.

The Continuous Improvement Cycle

One advantage of modern AI systems is their ability to learn and improve over time as they interact with new data. However, this means councils need consistent processes to:

• Monitor data quality
• Check for emerging biases
• Ensure systems remain aligned with service objectives

Practical Implications for Your Council

Before embracing AI solutions, consider:

• Do you have well-structured, consistent data about the service you want to improve?
• Does your data represent your whole community, or just segments of it?
• Are your data governance practices robust enough for AI applications?

Remember that no AI system can overcome fundamentally flawed or incomplete data. The saying "garbage in, garbage out" applies even to the most sophisticated AI tools.