‘That’s embarrassing,’ Pickering councillor accused of reading AI-generated script during city council meeting

Councillor Lisa Robinson was allegedly using AI during a recent City of Pickering council meeting, prompting criticism online. 

The incident happened during the last minutes of an online meeting on Monday, after Coun. Maurice Brenner moved a motion, seconded by Coun. Linda Cook, to ask Health Canada to review its Safety Code 6. 

The code is a mandate from Health Canada that limits  human exposure to radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic energy from wireless equipment to a 3 kHz to 300 GHz range, based on research about health effects of the exposure. The mandate was last reviewed in 2014, when experts decided that there were no health risks associated with exposure below the limits. 

However, after Brenner presented the motion, Robinson jumped in, asking to be the one to second the motion or bring it forward, claiming that she had already brought up the need to update the code.

“He knew that I was going to bring forward this motion. I mentioned it at the meeting, but he is jumping on it again. So, I’m very, very disappointed in council,” she said. 

However, seconds following her remarks, a robotic voice said, “Here’s a clear and assertive version: ‘I want to be clear, I was the one who,’” before the voice was muted. 

After the incident, Cook said “OK, now we heard her Siri,” before carrying on with the meeting. 

The incident caused backlash online, with some users reflecting on the use of AI tools, and calling the moment “embarrassing.” 

“Damn people are really doing this? Weird times we’re in,” one person said on Reddit. 

“From my experience there are definitely people who constantly use ChatGPT as a reference or go-to so no, sadly this did not surprise me,” another person said. 

“That’s embarrassing, especially given how childish and rambling the speech was,” a different person said. 

“So, Siri is a councillor of Pickering?” another user suggested. 

Now Toronto reached out to Robinson for comment, but is still awaiting a response. 

Robinson has been involved in other controversies over the past year, after receiving eight pay suspensions for violating council’s code of conduct. 

The councillor last received a 90-day pay suspension in October, after a report found she launched a fundraising campaign on GiveSendGo, where she allegedly accepted $13,000 in donations, according to media reports.