AI is already being used in policymaking and to address homelessness. Some governments are using the technology to better support those at risk of becoming homeless, while others are using it to detect “camps,” or temporary settlements of people without permanent housing.
Lawton is the sixth largest city in the state, with more than 90,000 residents. During the Sept. 23 City Council meeting, officials discussed exploring whether AI-generated recommendations created by ChatGPT should be used to shape the city’s Homeless Action Plan — Item 42 on the agenda. The city’s prompt aimed to reveal AI recommendations addressing the use of Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funds, specifically.
“We basically ask artificial intelligence — ChatGPT — how do we build a Homeless Action Plan using our CDBG and HOME funds without attracting more homeless [people],” Mayor Stan Booker said during the meeting. In the video below, created from screen recordings of the City Council’s Sept. 23 meeting, Booker and councilmembers Lane Hooton and Allan Hampton discuss the agenda item, and Booker indicates its passage.
The reason for specifying that the goal is to build the plan without attracting more people experiencing homelessness, Booker explained, is that he said he does not know of communities that have created homeless action plans without increasing their homeless population. However, Houston’s plan, as one example, was found to have reduced the city’s homelessness population by nearly two-thirds.
The AI tool offered two key recommendations. The first was to only allow CDBG and HOME funds to be used to support individuals who can demonstrate a connection to Lawton with paperwork. This could include prior education or a previous address, the mayor said. Voter registration, he said, would not be sufficient because “anybody can go down and register to vote.”
One councilmember posed the question of how one's connection to Lawton would be verified, noting that many people experiencing homelessness do not have proper documentation. This can impact individuals’ abilities to stay at a shelter, access public benefits or even register to vote.
“Well, we have organizations that help them get their ID, and until then, no money is spent on them,” Booker said, arguing that Catholic charities in the community can help people obtain their identification documentation. He said he does not think those are the only organizations doing so. “The organizations can still serve them; they just can’t use our CDBG and HOME funds.”
The other key recommendation from ChatGPT was not to add to existing shelter space, as it could attract more people experiencing homelessness. Booker noted that people are still free to build onto existing shelter space, but not using CDBG or HOME funds.
It is not a municipal function of the city of Lawton to house people, Booker said: “Our function is — primarily — public safety.”
Some other government jurisdictions, like Washington, D.C., and New York City, offer shelter as a right.
“Isn’t the objective to decrease the number of homeless [people] … what’s the best steps that we can take as a city to make it not a great place for them to come?” Hooton asked, stating that the implementation of one-way bus tickets out of Lawson was a “great idea” to encourage people experiencing homelessness to leave the city.
One member of the public urged the council to make the “prompt data which led to the formation of this document” part of the public record, for transparency with stakeholders. He also emphasized the potential for mistakes caused by inaccurate AI-generated information. Booker emphasized that the city’s legal department will be the final reviewers of anything of this nature.
Another member of the public raised concerns about a financial strain on charitable organizations and the hospital, caused by people experiencing homelessness.
“I agree with the mayor that we can’t use our funding to build more places for homeless [people] until we have a plan to be able to help those that we have,” Hampton said.
Councilmembers voted unanimously to adopt the two AI recommendations for the city’s Homeless Action Plan — adding the CDBG and HOME fund restrictions. The council also voted unanimously to approve a measure that would require anyone with a temporary settlement in the city have written permission from property owners to be there, essentially prohibiting unauthorized encampments. The goal, said Booker, is to improve public safety.
