How it works
ChatGPT is a service provided by OpenAI that allows users to ask questions and interact with the company’s large language models—or artificial intelligence systems capable of understanding the human language, according to IBM.
During the Commissioners Court meeting, Richard Semple, Williamson County chief information officer, said county employees could already be using ChatGPT. Semple said county guidelines currently in place state staff should not use AI to make decisions but instead to improve processes.
“The fact is, the genie is out of the bottle on AI,” Semple said. “People are using it a lot of times without even knowing it, and so we want to give county folks a safe path who need these tools to be productive.”
What they’re saying
Three residents raised security concerns about ChatGPT during public comments. Georgetown resident Bill Kelberlau called the agenda item “dangerous.”
“Tread very lightly in this area,” Kelberlau said. “This is not new, but it has very significant technological and safety issues.”
Semple said the tool is not something county officials are allowing into their network or connecting to in any way besides visiting a website.
“This system is not used for any confidential information,” Semple said. “Only things that are meant to be improved or cleaned up or made efficient through that process will be put into there in the first place.”
Also of note
Semple said generally, any data that people enter into ChatGPT becomes the company’s property. However, if Williamson County uses an enterprise license, that's that’s not the case.
By purchasing enterprise licenses, the data county employees enter into ChatGPT will remain property of Williamson County, Semple said. Additionally, county employees will receive training on how to safely use the tool, he said.
One more thing
The service agreement is between Williamson County and government IT solutions provider Carahsoft Technology Corp., according to county documents. The agreement is for a 12-month subscription starting Oct. 1 and ending Sept. 30, 2026.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey said county officials have the opportunity to add additional licenses or stop using the tool if it doesn’t work.
