Using AI in your Civic Society – Meeting Report & Videos

We held a lively interactive meeting on the subject of Artificial Intelligence on 30th April, which was recorded. Our first speaker, Richard Farthing, covered the background and some relevant uses, not only of well-known ‘chatbots’ such as ChatGPT, but also applications that use AI in the background, and real-world examples, particularly around planning. The second half was a full-on interactive session led by John Myers, who tested out several audience questions on live AI services, ranging from planning to creating images.

We naturally chose AI – in the form of Claude.ai – to generate the 1200 word report on the event page, alongside the two videos, and slides, with clickable links allowing you to explore the references mentioned, including the original AI ‘chats’. For comparison, we used both Claude and Google’s Gemini for shorter 300 word summaries below.  In this case Gemini made a bullet-point style summary as you can see, but Claude extracted perhaps a little more detail. Do we need a tool to merge the best of both ? It turns out that there are several tools already available to at least automate side-by-side comparisons.

Claude 300 word summary

AI: A Powerful New Tool for Civic Societies

Richard gave an illustrated introduction to AI, explaining how today’s large language models work and demonstrating their capabilities live. He showed how AI tools can summarise vast planning documents in seconds — a boon for societies grappling with complex applications running to hundreds of files — and introduced specialist tools including Objector.ai, which analyses planning legislation to assess whether there are grounds for objection, and Anti-Render, which produces more realistic versions of developers’ glossy CGI images. He also demonstrated how AI can help check whether images used on websites may infringe copyright.

Richard flagged some important cautions too: AI chatbots can generate plausible but inaccurate information, automated bots are already trawling civic society websites for copyright infringements, and the longer-term societal implications of AI — from job displacement to autonomous weapons — deserve serious attention.

John Myers took a more hands-on approach, taking questions and demonstrating AI tools in real time. He showed how an LLM can quickly locate planning policies, draft consultation responses, and synthesise multiple documents — tasks that would previously have taken hours. A member, Sophie, described how she had built a complete website for a residents’ association using Claude, with no coding background, at minimal cost — a practical example that impressed the room.

Key practical tips from the evening: always give AI as much context as possible about your organisation and local situation; ask the AI to plan before it acts; and always check what it produces before publishing or submitting. On data security, members were advised to avoid uploading personal information and to delete audio recordings and transcripts once minutes have been generated.

The message was clear: AI is already a powerful tool for civic advocacy, and societies that learn to use it well will be better placed to make their voice heard.

Gemini 300 word summary

Empowering Civic Societies with AI

The session highlighted that AI’s greatest strength for societies is in making summaries. Whether dealing with a 119-condition planning application or a dense 800-page developer report, AI tools like Claude and Gemini can extract key issues in seconds, allowing volunteers to focus on strategy rather than “turgid” reading.

Beyond text, the meeting showcased how AI can:

• Defend against copyright claims: By using reverse image searches like TinEye to avoid “trap” images on websites.

• Bridge the volunteer gap: One member shared how she built a complete, professional website for her residents’ association using AI, despite having no coding background.

• Draft Consultations: AI can take a society’s core principles and draft a formal response to government consultations, such as those on planning fees or public house protections.

A Human-Led Future

The speakers emphasised that while AI is an “intergalactic autocomplete,” it lacks a “soul” and local knowledge. The consensus was clear: civic societies should not fear the technology but should use it to level the playing field against well-resourced developers. As John Myers noted, the goal is to “equip ourselves to fight the battle” by combining human passion with machine efficiency.

Members are encouraged to experiment with free versions of these tools but to remain vigilant regarding security—always ensuring that personal data is never uploaded and transcripts of private meetings are deleted once minutes are finalised.