How GC is using AI

What AI tools is GC using?   

GC is starting to identify and explore the potential that AI has to re-shape society around us and the benefits it can bring to how we work, how we operate, and how we deliver our services.  To date we have tested or developed/ launched:   

• The UK’s first GenAI business support chatbot trained on more than a decade of knowledge and insight gained from supporting Greater Manchester's business community alongside curated business support information from other relevant services and organisations.   

• Zoho Zia is being used within Marketing Manchester’s Customer Relationship Management System (Zoho CRM), which is an AI companion that helps to manage the CRM intelligently as a built-in feature within the existing platform. Zia can be used to search information, take notes as you dictate, predict outcomes of sales activities, detect anomalies in data, as well as suggest ways to automate mundane tasks to streamline operations.   

• AutogenAI used by the Business Development team to summarise tender documents in seconds; respond to bid questions drawing on GC’s bid library, case studies and reports; and change bid responses quickly from reducing words, to changing text to bullets and inputting research to help us to assess the potential impact of AI on what we do.    

• Alongside these, early seed testing has begun looking at the benefits of Microsoft Copilot and Magic Notes with GC Employment.   

What measures are you taking to minimise the risk of cyberattacks/ hackers?  

As AI continues to develop, so do the attack techniques used by cyber criminals who are now leveraging AI technology to create sophisticated attacks against digital systems.  IT constantly monitors the cyber security landscape to ensure that GC are protected against the latest emerging threats and trends.   

We've strengthened our cyber controls and resilience to make sure that we’re protected as much as we can be including upgrading our anti-virus and intrusion detection systems, implementing a new email filtering system, as well as scheduling later this year an upgrade to our firewall protection systems.    

Will the AI applications we take forward integrate with systems we are already using?  

Where feasible our goal is to ensure that AI applications can integrate seamlessly with the systems you are currently using. AI considerations form part of all our digital transformation projects so you can leverage the benefits of AI without disrupting your existing workflows or end-to-end customer journeys.    

How will we monitor the impact of AI on the business and its people? What does success look like?  

We aim to responsibly embrace AI to enhance the services we provide to help people and businesses grow and thrive. This includes exploring how AI can enhance our work, operations, and service delivery, while also addressing ethical concerns in line with GC's core values. Our goal is to maximize the benefits of AI to enhance the great work we all do each day, and the services we offer.     

Any AI tool that is used within GC needs to be thoroughly tested to make sure that it’s transparent, safe and secure, the outputs are correct, appropriate and don’t include any biases.   

Our AI Hub is dedicated to keeping all colleagues up to date with the latest technological advancements and our use of AI.