Aissata Camara offers four recommendations on AI and workforce

Thank you so much, Madam Speaker and members of the Council.

My name is Aisata Kamara, and I am the founder and the president of the Global Subnational Diplomacy Council.

I previously served as New York City's Commissioner for International Affairs and had the pleasure of serving the city for more than a decade.

I come to this testimony because artificial intelligence is something that all cities are thinking about, including New York.

And we know that AI can obviously help cities reduce their paperwork, improve infrastructure and planning, and make services more accessible.

However, we also know that AI has the potential to deepen inequalities and threaten livelihoods.

So we are offering four recommendations and are willing to work with City Council in order to support the work that you're doing.

First, we would like to ensure that we're connecting workforce reporting to paid training by also consulting with workers and unions and providing opportunities for advancement accordingly.

We are also asking that we do more to protect democracies, as we know that artificial intelligence is a great tool for spreading misinformation and disinformation.

We specifically are asking for more support to ensure that residents

have access to reliable public information that is verified and that they understand the different issues and decisions that are being made by government in a clearer way.

When you look around the world, there are great cities that are doing this work, including Helsinki and others, and we ask

the city council to connect with those cities to learn from their experiences as well.

As I've mentioned, we believe that artificial intelligence could be a tool for good if it is managed carefully.

We also share the concern that other speakers have.

It's time to expire.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your testimony.