Cork Lord Mayor admits using AI and ChatGPT to help write speeches

Fergal Dennehy says AI tools boost efficiency but insists human judgement and personality must remain central to public representation

Lord Mayor of Cork Fergal Dennehy also claimed other members in Cork City Council are also using apps like ChatGPT for their council business. Picture: Darragh Kane

The Lord Mayor of Cork has admitted he is increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to write his speeches.

Fergal Dennehy made the admission after giving a speech at a data centre firm in Cork City which was AI generated by the company itself.

“In the past, I would have spent hours and hours writing, but my job is to represent the people of Cork, and I want to do my very best at doing that," he told the Irish Examiner after being asked if it was a "slippery slope" to be using the technology for speeches.

He also claimed other members in Cork City Council are also using apps like ChatGPT for their council business.

“You can tell nowadays with the questions coming into the council and the motions being tabled, they all have the same subsections and formats that let you know it's ChatGPT.” 

He said it is about “getting the balance right".

“If I put something into ChatGPT and I’m not comfortable with it, I will change it. But from a time and an efficiency perspective, it is wonderful. You can do something now in seconds that before would have taken hours.” 

Mr Dennehy said that while he believes a hybrid model of AI and human effort is the best way to go, ChatGPT can often think what he is thinking.

"It can be very accurate. But I hate looking at anything that has been written by ChatGPT. It takes the personality out of it, and I personally don’t like that. Everything I do has my touch on it."

Mr Dennehy had given a speech at the headquarters of cloud platform CloudCIX in Hollyhill on Tuesday. 

It had been given to him by the founder of CloudCIX, Jerry Sweeney.

In it, Mr Dennehy called CloudCIX a cornerstone of Cork’s digital infrastructure, providing “world-class data centre services to over 150 organisations across the public and private sectors".

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“From Cork City and County Councils to Tusla, HEAnet, MTU, and Government networks, CloudCIX has been a trusted partner in powering the systems that keep our region — and our country — running.” 

The speech went on to recognise “the 20 dedicated staff at CloudCIX,” adding that “behind every great innovation was a team of passionate, hardworking individuals – and today’s achievement is a testament to your skill, dedication and vision".

Mr Sweeney told the Irish Examiner: “I gave the chatbot the facts. It reads my boring stuff, and you can see how exciting the AI made it. 

"Wherever the mayor goes, he will ask for input on a speech because he wants to be informed.”

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