Approved AI Tools
This is the current list of AI tools approved for Council work. If a tool is not listed here, do not use it for Council business but do message us if you need something it cannot do.
Approved
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Drafting, rewriting and summarising. Available on the web at m365.cloud.microsoft/chat and inside Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams.
Copilot runs inside the Council's Microsoft 365 environment. Your prompts and the documents it draws on stay within systems the Council manages, and are not shared externally or used to train public AI models. Access is controlled through your Council account.
See Using Microsoft 365 Copilot for more information.
Microsoft Editor
Spelling, grammar, clarity and tone suggestions in Word, Outlook and the browser. Enabled by default, operates within the Microsoft environment, and you do not need to do anything to use it.
Not approved
Do not use public AI services for Council work. The issue is not the quality of these tools — several are excellent — it is that anything you enter leaves the Council's control. We cannot say where it is stored, for how long, who can access it, or whether it will train a model. That is not a risk the Council can accept for information about residents.
This applies whether you are using a free account, a personal paid subscription, or a browser extension.
Examples of tools that are not approved:
| Tool | Type | Why it's not approved |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | General text generator | Public cloud, data may be stored or used to train models |
| Google Gemini (Bard) | Text & image generator | External data processing, no enterprise controls |
| Grammarly | Writing assistant | Sends content to third-party servers |
| DALL·E, Midjourney, Runway ML | Image / video generation | Public cloud tools with unclear data storage and reuse policies |
This list is not exhaustive. New tools appear constantly, and a tool being absent from this table does not mean it is approved. The rule is the one above: if it is not in the approved list, it is not approved.
If you need something that is not approved
Do not work around it. There may be an approved way to do what you need, or we may be able to assess the tool.
See Request new software or an AI tool.
Using your own AI tools personally
What you use at home is your own business. The rule applies to Council information and Council work — including work you take home.