Concern is rising around the world about the use and misuse of artificial intelligence programs and that has prompted the United Counties of Prescott and Russell (UCPR) to take action.

The UCPR now has a plan to help ensure responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) for its operations and services. UCPR council approved a recommendation from its IT department to adopt the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Use Framework to guide the UCPR when and should it make use of AI for any of its programs and services.

The framework is guidance plan developed by the Eastern Ontario IT Collaborative (EOITC), which represents all municipalities within Eastern Ontario who make use of digital technology as part of their operations. The EOITC framework is a response to a survey the group did in 2025 of more than 200 municipal staff across Eastern Ontario on AI use.

“Never has a new technology moved as fast or been as broadly adopted as artificial intelligence,” stated the EOITC in its information package on the framework. “The state of the art is changing daily. But we believe there are practical and useful applications of this technology for municipalities with limited resources and that staying on the sidelines is not the right approach.”

An EOITC survey last year of more than 200 municipal staff across Eastern Ontario indicated that more than 75 per cent of some municipalities already use AI tools, “in most cases without any formal organizational guidelines or oversight”, and that only seven per cent of municipal departments stated that they had a policy, guidelines, or training in place for AI use. The survey also noted that about 60 per cent of municipal staff who responded to the survey are also using AI at home for personal needs, “which means they are arriving at work with habits and expectations already formed.”

The EOITC framework provides guidelines that municipal and regional governments can use to ensure responsible use of AI if they either plan to or already do make use of artificial intelligence for some or all of their services and programs.

The guidelines include cautions and also recommendations on how not to use AI and how to guard against misuse of AI and reduce the risk of and avoid problems that could happen because of improper use of AI.

Marc-Andre Drouin, UCPR IT department director, told council that the EOITC framework is meant to help and support all municipalities “who are all in the same boat” deal with the growing use of AI. Chief Administrator Stephane Parisien assured council that the UCPR is being careful regarding future plans regarding AI use.

“We are cautious, and the caution has come from our IT department,” said Parisien. “It is a major issue around the world, and the risks involved are pretty substantial.”

Parisien indicated that the next step for the UCPR is to work out a plan for using the EOITC framework as its guide for responsible IT use. He noted that the 2027 budget draft will include a suggested training funding allocation to increase staff expertise about AI and its use.

Council approved the recommendation to adopt the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Use Framework as a guiding plan for the UCPR regarding AI.