Perth Voice Interactive

IT’S like talking to a post, but this one talks back: A new artificially intelligent chat-bot named Ainsley wants to talk to Stirling locals about what they need in their neighbourhoods.

Stirling council’s introduced a WA-first trial installing signs at 42 locations, bearing a visual code that’s detected by smartphone cameras and opens up a text dialogue with Ainsley.

There they can ask questions and talk about what community infrastructure they need across the next 10 years like pools, libraries, skate facilities or sports courts. 

Mayor Mark Irwin says it’s a new prong in their community consultation attempts alongside the usual letters and online comments.

“Ainsley will enable automated two-way conversations at 42 locations across the City via QR codes and text messages,” Mr Irwin said in a media statement. 

“We hope this innovative approach to engagement will invite everyone to talk about their neighbourhood and have their stories heard, so the City can better understand what matters to the unique communities across our 30 suburbs.”

Ainsley comes with a pre-built knowledge base about the area it’s in and the council’s ongoing projects, and its answers are trained on previous conversations. 

The AI chat is tailored by a company called Hello Lamp Post, who’ve previously installed chat prompts to let tourists chat with a bot and ask questions about landmarks.

Hello Lamp Post co-founder Tiernan Mines said “robust” moderation mechanisms were in place to ensure Ainsley wouldn’t say anything inappropriate.

“The City of Stirling can draw comfort from the extensive experience and data Hello Lamp Post has collected in operating across more than a dozen different countries,” Mr Mines said. “Using the infrastructure that already exists in cities and towns to make them more interactive, we can bring more voices to the table.”

Public feedback on the community infrastructure plan is open til August 7, and if you don’t want to talk to the robot you can still submit the old fashioned way (online at Stirling’s website) or by calling their “leisure planning” department).