Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know (RTK) Law, first introduced at the state level in the 2007-2008 legislative session, requires any Commonwealth agency, such as a municipality or public school district, to provide the public with its records, in accordance with RTK’s outlined rules. It is designed to create a regulated process so that local government agencies can operate in a transparent and forthright manner. A recent uptick in anonymous RTK requests has Whitpain Township Manager Eric Traub thinking that artificial intelligence (AI) — a hurdle not foreseen in 2008 — is likely to blame. Traub told supervisors that the township has received hundreds of anonymous RTK requests, and recent requests are “basically almost AI-generated.” The state Office of Open Records has released some regulations, and Traub recommended the supervisors consider a resolution to create a policy to curtail AI-generated or unnecessary and time-consuming requests that do not come from actual humans. Read more here.
Source: Wissahickon Now; 9/10/2024