Belchertown is leader in strategic use of AI

On Feb. 26, Gov. Maura Healey announced a Google partnership with the Massachusetts Artificial Intelligence Hub to offer state residents free training on AI skills.

In attendance for the announcement were representatives of 80 technology and finance companies, startups and nonprofits — and two representatives from Belchertown, a community of about 14,000 in western Massachusetts and the only municipality represented at the event.

Belchertown’s move to embrace AI tools has saved significant staff time and resources and made the town a leader in integrating these tools with municipal workflows, according to state officials.

Belchertown’s path to AI integration began in 2024 with work by the town’s Communications Committee, which develops and recommends strategies for both public and internal communications in Belchertown.

“We were just looking for ways to move things along a little faster, ways to make it easier for all the different committees and the different groups in town to get their work done,” said Chris Martin, Communications Committee chair.

The Communications Committee began using AI tools to write draft meeting minutes, which were then reviewed and approved by the committee.

“We were shaving hours off of our workload,” Martin said of the process.

Members of the Communications Committee and Belchertown town staff soon met to discuss the town’s approach to AI tools.

Town Manager Steve Williams said he had discussed strategies for ensuring that any AI tools used by staff did not have access to sensitive town information. It became clear that a policy was needed, he said.

“We needed to train people on what [AI] really was, because there seem to be some misconceptions out there about how it’s being used,” Williams said.

“The last thing we want to do is throw a new technology into the mix and suddenly everybody’s in trouble and we’re breaking laws,” Martin said.

The town has been working on an AI policy since late 2024, a protracted process intended to mitigate potential legal impacts in the AI field and adapt to technological changes as they arise.

Martin said that the final policy may be akin to a “living document” that can be swiftly updated in response to new technology or AI use cases.

While the policy remains in draft form, Belchertown staff have found ways to integrate AI into their daily work. Police officers are using AI tools to scan and redact sensitive information in bodycam footage, a process that Martin said has reduced staff time spent reviewing footage from several hours down to 30 minutes.

Belchertown’s Fire Department is using AI to scan footage for potential leads on missing persons and create a map that can be used to narrow a search radius. Belchertown Community Television has an AI tool that identifies equipment and equipment parts that can be used to replace aging items while the town library uses AI to support its grant writing efforts.

Belchertown has found partners both local and statewide for its AI implementation work. The town has worked with the Massachusetts AI Hub to connect with other organizations navigating AI integration and has also partnered with the UMass Amherst Public Interest Technology Initiative to develop AI training sessions for town staff.

Williams said that he has used AI to develop legal summaries, but “it doesn’t replace the work leading up to that.”

“We still need to read the document that we’re summarizing,” he said.

The town recognizes that AI has arrived, and is becoming a part of daily life.

“We need to educate ourselves so we can use it properly and not subject ourselves to any ramifications or negative consequences,” he said. “But it’s not going away.”