by Kevin Cody
Hermosa Beach residents with questions about parking permits don’t need to navigate the city website to get answers. They can ask Sunny, and get their answers instantly.
Sunny is the city website’s new AI chatbot.
When asked how many parking permits residents are allowed, it answered, “Each residence in Hermosa Beach is limited to three residential parking permits per year. However, a fourth permit may be available if certain conditions are met.”
Sunny’s not easily stumped. But when she was stumped, as when asked if Hermosa has a public swimming pool, she politely admits ignorance. “I’m not sure if Hermosa Beach has a public swimming pool,” she answered. And then helpfully added, “You might want to contact the city directly … at (310) 318-0239.
According to a city press release, Sunny’s answers are “drawn from the City’s official website and other authorized sources.”
Sunny’s icon is in the bottom-right corner of every page on the city’s website, HermosaBeach.gov, and on the GoHermosa service request app, enabling residents to submit service requests directly to Sunny. ER
Asked ‘Sunny’ the chatty-AI-bot some simple questions and it just returned a bunch of useless sentences that sounded like an answer but really wasn’t. Any human being could have answered immediately the simple question. Then it said to check the website. And then it said to call the City at 310-318-0239.
Just another thing to further distance Hermosa Beach City Hall and the bureaucrats from the city’s own businesses and residents.
The real question is who sold this to the city and how much did it cost? Any kickbacks?
Just more stuff probably implemented by the Suja Lowenthal gang before she was canned to further reduce the time her minions needed to interface with the businesses and the residents of the city.
‘Sunny’ the ChattyBot gets a grade of “F”.
And how much personal information is this AI thing able to swipe from the city’s records? It, or its company, probably has access into everything at City Hall that’s on computers. Your kids are going to have to live with all this invasive stuff that’s so quick-and-dirty being bought and implemented by politicians and bureaucrats.
Move around anywhere in HB and your license plate is tracked, you’re video-taped, and it’s just a matter of time before tiny city drones will fly around your back yard and into your kitchen and who knows where else. Dumb, dumb, dumb! Why even have a city government. Those working there want no part of the businesses and residents anymore. They just want their direct-deposited pay.